


Galar's Secret Miracle

by Pikaboo_73



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: Action/Adventure, Comedy, F/M, Harem, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 233,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23222476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pikaboo_73/pseuds/Pikaboo_73
Summary: Victor was only four when his mother escaped with him from a facility that experimented on not only pokemon, but humans too. Moving to the Galar Region to leave behind their past, Victor's mother wished for him to live a normal life. However, knowing that the boy had abilities that he didn't understand nor know how to properly control, his mother had to keep him somewhat isolated until he could learn what he could really do. Now grown up at about fifteen years old, Victor understands what unnatural abilities he has but still wants to travel in the world of pokemon. But he has to be careful with who he meets, because after all...The world isn't prepared for a human with the powers of a pokemon.
Relationships: Dande | Leon & Masaru | Victor, Hop & Masaru | Victor, Mary | Marnie/Masaru | Victor, Masaru | Victor/Rurina | Nessa, Masaru | Victor/Saitou | Bea, Masaru | Victor/Sonia, Masaru | Victor/Yuuri | Gloria
Comments: 84
Kudos: 256





	1. Prologue-A New Beginning

**~{???- 2:53PM}~**

A woman frantically ran through corridors of white halls that were lit up by the red lights of blazing sirens. Her ears were getting pierced by the loud ringing of the alarms while she ran as fast as she could, not looking back out of worry of something being there. She was a young woman with long, dark brown hair that went down past her shoulders but tied into a ponytail with a green bandana. She wore circular glasses with brown frames and her brown eyes matched these frames even with the current look of panic in them. She had a lab coat on that was visibly torn by claw marks, clearly the marks of a pokemon.

In her arms was an unconscious boy of about four years of age. He had short brown hair and was only wearing a white hospital gown that was visibly burnt, yet the boy's skin seemed fine.

The woman took a sharp left down the hall before she heard some commotion up ahead. She stopped running and ran into the first room on the right, just a storage room where she remained still and listened to the outside despite the alarms still ringing.

She heard a squad of people running and stopping right beside the room she was in.

"Did you find her yet!?" One asked.

"Negative, sir. We only know she went through here."

"Then what are you waiting for!? That means she's still running ahead! Get going!"

She heard them start running again, knowing well who they were searching for.

She felt the boy in her arms start to move, looking down at him to see that he was still unconscious, but was making a face of pain with some small tears in the corner of his eyes.

The boy whimpered, and the woman hugged him close while caressing his brown hair.

"Shhhhh... It's okay, Victor. Mommy is gonna get us out of here. Then we'll have a normal life. You'll make friends like you wanted. You don't worry about a thing, baby... I'll get us out."

She took a deep breath and listened outside, waiting as more people passed by. The first chance of hearing no one, she bolted out of the room and kept on running through the halls.

_"Keep running... Just keep going!"_ She panted as she turned another corner and started heading for the stairs.

But then two lab staff came into view with a Salandit and Manectric with them.

"There she is!" One of the staff pointed.

The woman gasped and screeched to a halt.

The other staff pointed a palm, "Salandit, use Flamethrower!"

"Salandit!" The pokemon opened its mouth and released a burst of flames hurtling at the woman.

Her eyes widened, but she dashed out of the way of the flames and continued down another path of the lab she was in.

"Hey! You could've killed them! Remember, we need both alive!" She heard one of them shout from behind.

She heard their rapid footsteps behind her.

"Manectric, use Quick Attack to catch her!"

"Manectric!" The electric pokemon started glowing white and suddenly sped forward must faster than before.

The woman heard them and gritted her teeth, then using only one arm to hold her child as she used the other to pull out what seemed to be a repel of the sort, yet it had a pin on it rather than a nozzle. She used her teeth to pull the pin and tossed it back.

Manectric was nearly catching up when the repel rolled in front of it and went off, exploding with a thick mist of orange.

"Nyah!" Manectric let out a growl as the substance seemed to sting it, especially in its eyes. This caused it to mess up it's running and crash to the ground.

"Mantectric!" The staff shouted as it rushed to his pokemon.

"Where did she go!?" The other asked once the thick wall of orange mist disappeared.

The woman was already busting through another door using her shoulder and kept on running.

_"We had to take a detour, but we're almost there!"_

"Ma...ma?"

The woman looks down in shock to see her son coming to, yet looking terribly tired.

"Where... Where are we?..."

She moved his face against her shoulder.

"We're leaving Victor, don't worry." She ushered him.

"But... What about papa?"

She felt her heart crushed.

"He... He had to stay behind and finish some work..."

All of a sudden, and explosion came from a room behind her with enough force to send her forward.

"Mama! I'm scared!" Victor cried out in fear, burying his face in her clothes.

The woman tightly held her child as she stumbled along the ground but managed to regain her balance and keep on running.

"Don't be scared, Victor, we'll be out soon! J-Just close your eyes and go back to sleep." She whimpered.

She kept running and running, following the exit signs and not caring about the pain in her lungs from running so much. But she felt her heart stop when she saw the exit.

Only, it had four different staff members with pokemon waiting for her, being led by a higher-up with an Arcanine.

She stopped and could feel her hope start to diminish. She turned around but saw the two other lab staff already catching up. There was no left or right way to go, she was surrounded on both sides.

"Finally, we're done with this cat and mouse game." The higher-up staff member snarled. He reached a hand out as if trying to reach her, "Stop this foolishness. If you choose to remain here, you can live a happy life with your son every day."

The woman grew angry and quickly covered her child. "My son, or your experiment!?"

"You don't know what we're trying to do! We're creating a new future of man and pokemon! A future where both can fight alongside each other!"

"The world is already doing that!" The woman shouted back.

"You mean those foolish battles where we must rely on animals to protect us? How foolish! Humans are meant to evolve, that is our purpose!"

"Humans are also meant to choose the path that _they_ want to take! Victor is only a boy, not even five yet! Why are you choosing his future for him!?"

The man tightened his hand into a fist and rose it up as a demonstration of power. "It is necessary for the future of humanity. We must be able to defend ourselves from pokemon if the day ever comes where they turn on us! Your child is a result of years of hard work! Years of our own sweat and tears! You will not leave with him! Now hand him over, or we'll have to take him from you!"

"Never! He's my son! And his life is his own! Not your lab rat!" The woman tightened her hold on her son and looked back and forth at the staff and their growling pokemon.

The man sighed, "So stubborn... Just like your husband. He didn't agree either..."

The mother turned her head back to the man in worry.

"What did you do?"

He adjusted his glasses.

"We had to take him out of the picture."

The woman felt horrified. "Y-You didn't..."

"It was necessary to keep him quiet, as it will be to keep _you_ quiet. Get them." He snapped his fingers.

The men started to march towards her.

"Mama, what's going on...?" Victor mumbled on her shirt.

She gently caressed his hair. "N-Nothing, Victor... B-But I need you to do something for me. Okay, sweetie?"

"Yes, mama..."

"I need you to think of the place that makes you feel the happiest. Somewhere that you love more than any other place in the world. Don't tell me what it is."

"Okay," Victor mumbled sleepily.

"Now, think about how much you want to be there right now. Keep thinking about how much you want to be there as much as you can."

Victor did just that, thinking about a specific place with a gentle smile.

He and his mom then started to glow purple.

The man noticed this and his eyes widened.

"STOP THEM!!"

Hearing him shout, the others bolted towards the two.

"Xatu, use Air Slash!"

"Crawdaunt, use Water Gun!"

"Noctowl, use Peck!"

So many pokemon rushed at them.

The woman just smiled gently while staring down at her son.

"Now... Go."

They flashed in purple right before vanishing on the spot.

* * *

**~{???-3:12PM}~**

She fell to the ground and tumbled in a field of some sort, tightly holding her son Victor in her arms as she rolled, rolled, and kept on rolling.

Soon they both came to a stop.

"Ouch..." She forced herself up and revealed her hair that had been turned into a horrid mess. Tangled up with stems, leaves, and petals. She glanced down at her arms and saw her child wincing.

"Victor, are you okay!?"

The child was breathing soundly asleep.

She let out a breath of relief, hugging him tightly now that they had a moment to rest.

She then rose her head and took a look at the landscape around her, smiling as she knew exactly where they were.

It was a beautiful field full of flowers of all types of flowers. The warmth of the sun hit the two of them with the addition of the cooling breeze. She turned her head and saw in the distance a based of some sort, the place where she had just been.

_"I knew it... When we brought him out here, he loved it... This was the only place we could've gone."_

She thought of her husband left inside the lab and the words of the leader implying his death. Now it was just the two of them, her and her son. She ignored the water trailing down her cheeks from her eyes as she stared at the base.

_"I can't start crying now..."_ She got a good hold of her son and shakily got to her feet, turning her back to the lab. _"They'll realize where we are soon... I.. have to... leave..."_

She took one step forward, but nearly tumbled over.

_"No... why isn't my body listening to me now? We already made it this far. I need to move. I need to give Victor a normal life... I have to go where they won't ever find us..."_

She took another step but ended up on one knee.

"P-Please..." She begged herself, desperately trying to move.

A white light suddenly caught her attention.

She rose her head, her eyes widened in awe, and she froze at the being floating in front of her.

There stood what was supposed to be a legend to her and her previous lab. A piece of superstition that many scholars would never think to exist. The blinding white color, the shining golden cross-like wheel attached to its round abdomen, and its green eyes with red pupils. It was a creature she never thought she would see.

"Arceus..." She was in a trance by the bright lights as this pokemon stared down at her.

Behind her, a giant explosion echoed throughout the land and had so much force the winds violently swayed the surrounding trees.

When the winds died, and she turned around, she was shocked to find the entire lab up in flames.

She slowly turned her head back to Arceus in fear.

"D-Did you... do that?"

Rather than answer, the pokemon slowly hovered down until it planted its four hooves into the ground. 

The woman couldn't tell if this mystical pokemon was impressed or angry as it stared at the extraordinary child in her arms.

The woman shot up to her feet, "A-Are the pokemon that were in the facility safe!? They didn't do anything wrong!"

Arceus seemed to glow intensely as if to quiet her. He then gazed his head to the direction of the lab, to which the mother turned as well and saw many pokemon unconscious a safe distance away from it.

He then leaned his head down at the sleeping boy.

**"Tell me... What is this young one's name?"**

The mother was shocked to hear him speak but managed to maintain enough professional composure to answer despite shaking.

"H-His name is Victor..."

Arceus's head was right by the sleeping child now. 

And as if on instinct, the Victor smiled in his sleep and reached a hand to him, gently petting Arceus oh his face. 

**"How... peculiar."**

The mother just stared in worried silence.

Arceus moved his head back and kept a straight stance.

**"Your child is the only one of his kind and will continue to be the only one for several years to come. What those humans have done should never have been attempted. And yet... they managed to succeed."**

Arceus gazed at the burning facility ahead in the distance.

**"But there will be no more of that. There is no trace of those accursed experiments. Except..."** He gazed down at the child.

**"Him."**

On instinct, the mother held him tightly to protect him.

**"I'm not going to take your child away. He is innocent, but also very dangerous. He has the gift that no ordinary human should ever have. It will be your job to teach him of this and send him on the right path."**

He turned his back to her and a large white portal emerged in front of him.

**"Come."** He started to step to the portal.

"W-Where are we going?" The woman asked out of worry of if her child would handle where they went.

Arceus stopped and turned a red eye back to her.

**"You wish to leave this all behind, don't you? If you wish to take responsibility for those experiments you've done, then you will raise your child to live a normal life. I'll take you to an area where the events of this place shouldn't reach him for years. A place where he can choose his own path."**

She thought about it.

**"Keep in mind, this doesn't mean he'll be safe forever... There is no doubt that there are others who know what experiments have taken place and will wish to replicate it. They will try to find him, they will try to take him. If his power is revealed to the world, then the uproar will bring danger to him."**

The woman had tears in her eyes as Arceus waited for her.

"Please... take us." The woman bowed.

Arceus didn't waste any time and started to walk through the portal.

The poor mother rushed to catch up with her child in her arms.

The mythical pokemon's eyes shined red after the woman went into the bright white light.

**"Let us go... To the Galar region."**

The portal close behind them, leaving all of their troubled past behind.

For now.

* * *

**~{Galar Region- 11:33PM}~**

**"Will this suffice?"** The god-like pokemon asked as he gently put down the mother and her child.

The woman stared at a house that she considered downright beautiful. It was only a one-story house that has signs of being abandoned for years. There were outgrown vines and leaves all over the gutters, tall grass on the sides of a dirt path with stone slabs, an old wheelbarrow on the side, signs of what used to be a small garden, pots with wildly growing lush plants, and one large green gate that was wide open.

The mother just stared at the house.

**"I understand this may not be much and it will need a lot of work. But I've overheard others wishing for someone to move into here. They also seem to be quite friendly with children of their own. I hope you can give this site a chance to call home..."**

Arceus heard a sniffle and glanced down at the woman he saved, noticing tears going down her eyes along with a genuine smile.

"It's beautiful..."

Arceus took a moment to appreciate her happiness before turning back to the house.

**"Then, this is where I leave you. There is some furniture inside, but you will have to put in a lot of work. For now, I'll humbly ask the surrounding pokemon near here to offer support in helping you adjust and acquire materials. Do you believe you'll be alright?"**

The woman turned and gazed up at him.

"We'll be okay. Thank you, Arceus... Thank you so much..."

Arceus faced his body to her. **"Don't misunderstand. It's not like I get myself involved in these personal human matters out of the kindness of my heart. I guard this planet against cataclysms that would ravage them, but..."**

He gazed at the sleeping boy. 

**"He is special. He has the potential to be able to protect the world... or devastate it. In the future, if he would choose the latter... then I'm afraid I will have to step in and put an end to him myself..."**

The mother didn't hesitate to answer.

"I won't let that happen! He's a boy that loves pokemon as much as he loves people! He would never wish to cause any harm to the world!"

**"Yes, I can see he's a child like that... But power changes people. Whether it's the person with that power or those around him. If people discover what he is capable of, then they may treat him differently. Like a creature, like a monster, and that torment can change the boy's love to hate. I know this place has kind people, but there are always those shadows in the light..."**

"I-I know he won't do anything... I know it."

**"We shall see... Perhaps in the future, people will be more accepting of such the only person with these abilities. But right now, try to keep him from interacting with others. After all..."**

He leaned his head down to the boy.

**"The world isn't prepared for a human with the powers of a pokemon."**

* * *

**~{The Next Day- Postwick 9:23AM}~**

"This... Might be a problem..."

The mother was still in the same clothes she was wearing yesterday while her child, Victor, curiously stared up at her while barefoot in his patient gown.

The house they were in had dust all over the area but surprisingly looked to be in good shape. But she didn't even know where to start without any cleaning supplies.

She furiously scratched her messed up hair in irritation.

"Mama... Where are we?" Victor tilted his head curiously and gazed around at the dusty house.

His mother turned to him with a smile.

"Our new home, sweetie."

"...Is papa coming?"

She froze.

"I-I'll tell you later... W-We have to clean this place up!"

Victor looked down at himself.

"But I'm cold..."

"Er, I'll fix that!" She took off her dirty lab coat and put it on him despite not fitting.

_"Not good, he could get sick if he stays this dirty... There's a river right near here, but it's too much in the open. And I KNOW that someone will see us... Oh what to do..."_

She didn't want to leave the house and risk being spotted so soon.

"Skwo! Skwo!" She heard something squeak.

"Hm?" She turned to an open window and found a Skwovet sitting on the window frame.

"Oh, sorry little fella, I don't have any fruit..."

Victor pointed at the pokemon, "Mama! He says he wants to help us!"

His mother and the Skwovet both seemed stunned.

She crouched down to him. "Victor, you can understand it!?"

Victor looked confused, "Didn't you listen to him?"

"Skwo!" The Skwovet jumped from the window frame and scurried over beside Victor. 

"He says the big scary white pokemon asked him to help us." Victor said as he petted the cheeky pokemon with a smile.

_"Arceus!"_ His mom had stars in her eyes. "We would love your help! Can you tell us where there is a hidden river or lake?"

"Skwo!" The Skwovet turned to the window, where two Drifloons floated in.

"Drifloon!" Both cheered as they floated down to a curious Victor.

Their string-like hands wrapped around both of his arms.

"Eh?" His mother blinked as the Drifloons started to lift him up.

"They say they'll take me!" Victor innocently smiled.

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" His mother dived to grab him, but missed and faceplanted to the floor, kicking a cloud of dust up as the Driftloons carried him out the window.

She immediately got back up and dove out the window.

"VICTOR!"

The Skwovet awkwardly watched as the frantic mother chased after the pokemon carrying her son away in the forest.

He turned to look at the house and put its paws on his cheeks.

"Skwo! Skwo!"

Many other pokemon suddenly started coming in from the open windows. Rookidee's, more Skwovets, and even Nickits. Surprisingly, the last one to arrive was a small Munchlax. One that had somehow gotten to the window and fell inside.

The first Skwovet started squeaking as it pointed around at the house, giving off instructions. Some Rookidees began flapping its wings to move around the dust, the Skwovets and Nickits started moving small items around or were getting rid of them, and the Munchlax yawned before then carrying around some of the more significant objects such as chairs.

Outside, as the pokemon were cleaning, a young woman was taking a walk with her son and another girl. The woman had short black hair, was wearing a yellow shirt, blue jeans, and green slippers of the sort. 

Her son was a four-year-old dark-skinned boy with brown eyes and purple hair, along with one of the most energetic smiles ever.

Next to him was a four-year old girl with short brown hair, brown eyes, and was wearing a green beanie with a white puffball on top. 

They happily walked down the path until the boy noticed the house that was supposed to be empty suddenly had dust flying out of it.

"Mum! There's something in that house!" The boy pointed out.

"Hm?" The mother turned to the house and was shocked to see pokemon moving around through the window. "Oh! Are those pokemon planning to live there!?"

The girl pointed excitingly. "Lookie there, Hop! There's Rookidees, Skwovets, and Nickits!"

"I know, Gloria, I can see!" The boy named Hop bounced excitingly.

"Oh dear, I may need to call Leon down here. Or those guys could wreck the entire house." Hop's mother muttered.

* * *

**~{Meanwhile- Slumbering Weald}~**

Victor's mother had frantically chased after the Drifloons that carried her child through the foggy woods. She didn't care about the danger of encountering any pokemon without one of her own, she was a driving force going after her child.

"Weeeeeee!!!" Victor laughed as the Drifloons cheerfully swung the boy front and back.

"VICTOR!!" His mother leaped over some skittering Skwovets, ducked under some flying Rookidees that tried to attack her, and even threw aside a Nickit that jumped in her way.

"Drifloon!" One of the flying ghosts said to Victor.

"You're gonna throw me?" Victor repeated in confusion.

"NO!" His mom shouted.

"Okay!" Victor smiled.

The two Drifloons pulled him back and then flung him forward.

"GYAH!!" She dove with her arms reached for her boy.

Only for both of them to fall right into a calm river.

The Drifloons giggled as the mom came out with Victor in her arms.

"Hey, mama! We can take a bath now!" He smiled.

The mom was dripping wet as she glared at the Driflooms, who flinched and hid behind a tree.

She sighed, "Well... At least we can wash this muck off you..."

"Drifloon!" A Drifloon floated down with a soft sponge and bottle of soap in each of its stringy arms.

"...Thanks."

She ended up taking the hospital gown off of Victor and scrubbed him all over. She thought about washing herself there too but glared at the watchful gazes of random pokemon passing by.

_"...I'll take one later."_

When she was done washing Victor, she realized that the only clothes she could make him wear were either the already dirty patient gown or her dirt lab coat.

She felt someone poke her from behind and turned around to see a Munchlax offering a blue towel to her.

"Oh. Where did you get this from?" She took both, first using the towel to dry Victor and then wrapping it around him.

"Munchlax!" The pokemon cheered.

"He says he took it from a lady." Victor said.

The Munchlax turned black and white in shock that the child understood him.

"..." Victor's mother just picked up her child. "At least you did it just to help us... Can you lead us back?"

The Munchlax awkwardly waddled ahead to lead them.

As they walked, the mother couldn't see a thing.

"This fog is so thick. I'm glad I didn't lose Victor in here..."

A loud howl echoed throughout the forest, scaring many of the pokemon that were watching them.

Both she and Munchlax froze, glancing around at the surrounding thick fog.

"I-I think we need to go..."

"Munchlax!" The Munchlax waddled faster.

As they moved, they didn't notice two pairs of eyes staring at them from afar. 

Eyes of two large-wolf like creatures.

* * *

**~{Five Minutes Later}~**

"WHA-!?" Victor's mother was dumbfounded when she got back into her house, dripping wet. The place was completely free of dust, the area was cleared up of any trash, and there was even a pile of fruit in the middle of what she assumed was the kitchen judging by the old stove and cupboards. But there was also a small set of clothes for a child on the counter.

All of the pokemon had cleared out, leaving only the Munchlax that had led them back from the forest.

"Look, mama! Food!" Victor jumped.

Rather than getting the food, his mother went to the set of clothing on the counter and took it with a smile.

"Before we eat, let's get you dressed!"

As she dressed him, Munchlax was already eating berries.

At the same time, outside of the house, two children were peeking from behind a moss-covered brick fence at the home that had just had wild pokemon 'rampaging' through it.

"Um, Hop? Didn't your Mum say to stay away from that house and to wait for Leon to come back from his battles?" The short brown-haired girl, Gloria, asked the overly excited Hop.

"But that many pokemon have never gone in that house before! Don't you wanna see why they suddenly started going in?" Hop turned to her with a grin.

"But it looks like they're all gone to me." Gloria pointed out.

Hop stared at the house as he noticed that his friend was right. There weren't any signs of any frantically rampaging pokemon in the living quarters.

"Pooey... Wait, hold on. I think I see someone in there." Hop carefully started to go up the small slope up the house.

"Hop! I told ya we ain't supposed to go!"

"We don't hafta go _in_. I just wanna see inside. I think I saw a lady."

"A lady? In there?" Gloria was curious now, inching closer up with Hop.

The two of them sneaked to one of the windows and got on their tippy-toes so that their heads barely peeked in.

The woman and her son were sitting cross-legged on the floor now with a happy Munchlax with them, eating away at the piles of berries.

"See? A lady!" Hop grinned. "Oh, wow! Why does it look clean!? Did the pokemon that came here clean up?"

Gloria had noticed the lady, but her eyes had been drawn to the kid sitting beside her. He looked to have a set of casual clothing on, consisting of a small black shirt blue shorts. But what had caught Gloria's attention about the boy was the gray beanie he was wearing.

"Hop, ain't that your beanie?"

Hop turned to where Gloria was gazing and saw Victor, then blinking when he saw the gray-beanie his friend referred to.

"Hold on! That's my clothes!!"

His sudden shouting caught the attention of all three beings inside the house.

"Mama! Look!" Victor innocently pointed with a smile at the two kids peeking in.

"Oh, no!" His mother panicked. She was going to have Victor and herself stay in low profile as long as possible, yet their cover was already blown.

"Munchlax!" The big eater pokemon waved at them.

"Eep!" Hop and Gloria ducked from the window.

Victor ran to the door rather happily and jumped to grab the handle, turning it and using his weight to pull the door open. He dropped down and ran outside.

"Victor! Hold on!" His mother chased after him.

Munchlax just kept munching on fruit.

"They saw us!" Hop cried as he and Gloria started running back to the closest house, which was Hop's own. They had barely crossed a stone bridge that went over a river before they saw something blazingly past them from the corner of their eyes and ending up ahead of their path.

"Hi!" Victor waved ahead.

"What!?" Hop and Gloria both screeched to a halt.

The moment they stopped, they were only a few feet away from the boy.

Hop's head went back in forth as he tried to process what happened.

"Oi! How'd you do that!?" Hop asked him with sparkling eyes and a broad smile.

"Hm? Do what?" Victor asked confusingly.

"You were behind us, but now you're here! We were running away!" Gloria looked somewhat panicked compared to Hop.

"I just ran faster." Victor smiled.

"Hold on!" The trio turned to Victor's mother finally catching up to them while panting. "Wh-Who are you children?" 

Hop proudly stood tall, "I'm Hop! I live right the path close to your guys!" He pointed at a house that was literally just down the path.

The girl seemed to calm down and smile too. "I'm Gloria! I live in Wedgehurst right next to the Pokemon Research Lab!"

_"Should these children really just be saying this to strangers!?"_ Victor's mother wondered.

"I'm Victor! We just moved into that house you looked at!" Victor cheerfully smiled.

Hop and Gloria curiously stared at Victor in wonder. But then Hop realized the issue with Victor's clothing.

"Those are my clothes!" Hop pouted with his arms ups.

"Eh?!" Victor and his mother both uttered.

"They are? But the pokemon gave them to me..." Victor pleaded innocently, although with a hint of embarrassment.

Hop's annoyance subsided and turned into curiosity. "They did? Are they all yours?"

"No, they just came from outside and helped clean up the house."

"Really? But why?" Gloria tilted her head.

"A pokemon told them too." 

His mom looked uneasy, "Er, Victor? I don't think you should-"

"A pokemon told them too? How do you know!?" Hop got closer with an eager grin.

Victor smiled at his enthusiasm.

"I know because I could talk to-"

"Hold on!" His mother scooped him up from the ground and covered his mouth. "W-We saw big pokemon with them before leaving! That's it!"

"Mmph?!" Victor was surprised by his mother's actions.

"Ehhhh? Which one!?" Hop jumped.

"Er, um... We didn't see it clearly because we were still waking up!"

"Hop, there you are! Wait, who's that?"

This new voice made Victor's mother start sweating. She turned to see two pairs of young couples coming over to them. One couple had the same skin tone as Hop's, while the other had the same brown hair and eyes as Gloria had.

"Mum! Dad! They say they moved into the old house!" Hop pointed

"Hop, deary. It's not polite to point." His mother said as she came up to him.

His father looked curious. "We didn't get any news that anyone would be moving in..."

"Um..." Victor's mother removed her hand from her son's mouth, the boy staring curiously at the new people that came.

"They say that a pokemon told a bunch of other pokemon to clean up the house!" Gloria added.

Gloria's mother chuckled. "Oh, really? That sounds nice of them."

_"I don't think she believed that..."_ Victor's mother sweatdropped.

Gloria's father puffed his chest. "Where did you come from?"

"Er, I-we, um..." 

"Mum! Let's check out their house!" Hop pulled on his mother's sleeve.

"I would normally say that's rude, but..." Hop's father smiled. "I think it'll be a way to get to know our new neighbors."

Victor's mom sweated nervously while Victor smiled with the effect of a ball of sunshine.

_"There goes our peaceful life..."_


	2. Understanding One's Own Abilities

**~{Postwick, Victor's Home- 11:12 AM}~**

4-year old Victor sat on a table across from his mother with a rather curious stare. The house they were in was now filled to the brim with new furniture. They were all basic things, such as a new blue carpet and a mattress with some blankets for Victor's room, a new blue couch with a coffee table in the living room, and even the new wooden table that he was sitting at with his mother in the kitchen. 

Obtaining this furniture was all thanks to none other than Hop's family. They said that their son, Leon, had recently become champion of the Galar region and had been sending them tons of money from his winnings. Since the family of a rural setting didn't know what to do with this mone, they decided to use it to help this new family move in. 

When Hop's family had visited Victor's new house and saw the emptiness, they wondered what happened. Then Victor's mother had to explain to them vaguely that they had suddenly run away from their previous home and in search of a new life to live. They were surprisingly very kind and understanding, even offering any type of help whatsoever to help them adjust in the future.

At the same time, Hop and Gloria immediately started to get along with Victor. They all had the same enthusiasm for pokemon and found it easy to talk to each other. Hop was even okay with lending Victor more of his clothes and letting him keep his favorite gray beanie that the boy was already wearing. The family wished for Victor and his mother to meet Leon, but the woman refused with a claim that for now, Victor should interact with as few people as he could, as much as she wanted to let him out. When asked why, she responded that there had to be many things sorted out with her child.

Speaking of which, the woman in question sat across from Victor with a rather serious stare. She was cleaner and had gotten new clothes. She wore a set over light blue overalls, what looked like a white dress shirt underneath, and wore white gardening boots with a flower design on it. 

The two of them were alone in their house with the addition of the Munchlax sleeping on the couch. The only sound that rang in the house was the constant ticking of a new clock beside Victor's plain bed in the next room.

"Victor... Do you know why I told you to sit down?" His mother asked him.

"Because I wanna go outside?" Victor answered, rather sad.

"Yes... Victor, I know that you want to go around and make friends, but you can't yet..."

"Am I sick, mama!?" Victor cried out.

"No, you're not." His mother reassured him. "I just never explained to you what happened to your body."

"Eh?" Victor looked curious.

"Listen, Victor... Do you remember where we were living before?"

"Um, you told me it was a 'lab'? Somewhere adults study and do tests?"

"Yes... But Victor, do you remember going into that capsule?"

"Capsule?" A question mark appeared over the boy's head.

"The bed inside the little machine that daddy told you to go inside?"

Victor looked down as he thought about it.

"Oh! Daddy told me that sleeping in it would make me into a special person!" He looked unsure of himself. "Did I do something wrong?"

His mother shook her head side to side. "No, you didn't, Victor. You did end up becoming that special person daddy said you'd be..."

"How?" Victor stared expectantly at her.

His mother took a deep breath. 

"You have powers, Victor."

"Superpowers!?" Victor looked excited.

His mother spoke as Victor struggled to stay composed. "You could say that. You can use the same powers of pokemon."

The boy's excitement grew to new bounds; he got off his chair and started jumping on the floor.

"Like a pokemon!? Can I try them out?!"

"NO!"

His mother's outburst scared the boy to freeze in place, a look of worry in his brown eyes.

"Lax!" They heard a cry in the next room and discovered that Munchlax had gotten startled out of his sleep, fell off the couch, and had landed face first to the ground.

"Sorry..." Victor's mother sighed as she moved from her seat and crouched down on one knee to be one the same level as the boy.

She placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Victor, you can't just go around using your powers. You may end up losing control and hurting yourself. Or maybe even others. Do you want that?"

"N-No..."

His mother tapped him on the head. "Then, first, you have to understand them. A person with pokemon powers isn't normal. It's never happened before. Or at least, that's what I know. So you can't tell _anyone_ about these powers, or else people might come and take you away from me..."

"Yes, mama..."

They remained in momentary silence.

Then his mother sighed. "I don't want to scare you, Victor. But you have to understand."

"I-I get it..." Victor stared at her. "Is talking to pokemon also a power of mine?"

"Kind of. We had people who've studied pokemon all their lives give their knowledge of their languages. And I guess you could say we 'injected' this knowledge to you."

"So, I'm a big brain boy?" Victor asked as he pointed to himself.

"Heh, you were always a smart boy Victor. But we just made you able to understand pokemon, not make you smarter."

"So, I can't tell anyone that I can talk to pokemon either?"

She noticed the sad look in his eyes.

"Do you already want to tell someone?"

He nodded.

"...Is it those two other kids you met?"

He nodded again.

"Oh, Victor... You only just met those kids. Can you really trust them to keep a secret?"

"I can!" Victor confidently responded. "They're like me! They're nice and love pokemon as much as me!"

"But Victor..." His mother flinched when she saw his adorable, comedically watery eyes begging her.

_"Don't make that face!"_ She thought as she trembled to the power of an adorably sad child.

"I wanna be closer friends with them..."

An arrow comedically pierced her heart.

"Alright! Alright! You can tell them! Just stop crying!" His mother comedically slammed a bunch of napkins on his face.

The napkins immediately fell to reveal Victor with sparkling eyes now.

"Really?!"

His mother got close again in all seriousness. "Yes, but _only_ tell them that you can talk to pokemon! And you have to make sure they don't _ever_ tell anyone even that."

"Thank you, mama!" Victor hugged his mother.

_"I gotta make some defenses against those eyes... This might be a bad idea even to let him tell them. What's a mother to do?"_ His mother sighed as she returned the hug.

When he pulled away, he looked up rather curiously at her.

"When will I learn to use my powers, mama? Or how can I use them?"

His mother smiled and rustled his hair. "When you learn a lot about pokemon first."

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

"Hm?" Victor and his mom both turned to the door.

"Victor! Are you in there!?" A girl's Scottish accent rang from outside.

"I think that's Gloria!" Victor jumped excitedly. He turned to his mom with an expected sparkle of a smile.

She smiled back and walked over to the door, then pulling it open.

"Hello there-"

She froze when she saw Gloria, but instead of Hop, there was a happy sheep-looking pokemon about their height right beside the girl.

"Lookie here! Hop got a Wooloo!" Gloria smiled.

"Baaaaa!!!" The Wooloo cheerfully rang.

Both Victor and his mother looked left and right, searching for the mentioned boy.

"Um... Where is Hop?" Victor asked.

"Right here!" The Wooloo said.

"EH!?!" They stared down the Wooloo's innocent face.

"Did it eat him!?"

Before anyone could answer, Hop's head popped out from the Wooloo's back.

"It's so fluffy!" Hop laughed.

Both Victor and his mother had blank faces.

As they all started to laugh, two sets of eyes stared at them from afar. Within the Slumbering Weald forest that was beside Victor's house, two beings were staring at them from afar. One was a tall figure up high in the tall shadows of the trees. He was standing on a branch with its arms crossed and gazing uncaringly at the group ahead. 

The other was the mythical white pokemon himself floating right beside him.

"Gre... Gre..." The figure grumbled.

**"Yes... That is him right there."** The god-like pokemon Arceus answered.

"Ninja."

**"I need you to watch the boy in my stead while I solve other matters. If he ever shows malicious intent on harming other pokemon, then I permit you to strike him down."**

"Gre, Gre, ninja?"

**"I know you wouldn't unreasonably strike down just to leave. You're better than that."**

"Ninja..."

**"I know you do not belong here in this region. But you are the only one I can ask of this. You have nothing to do anyway."**

The figure turned his back to Arceus.

"Gre... ninja..."

**"Thank you. I leave it to you."**

A large portal appeared behind Arceus, to which he went through, and it closed behind him.

The shadowy figure stared as Victor invited Hop and Gloria into his house.

"Hmph." He then vanished from his spot.

* * *

"Is this your Munchlax, Victor?" Gloria asked as she fed the sleepy pokemon a berry.

"No, after the house was cleaned, he just kind of hung around." Victor answered as he curiously gazed at the Munchlax, nibbling on a berry.

Hop was on the ground with his head comfortably lying against the Wooloo in bliss.

"Hop, how did you get the Wooloo?" Victor asked as he gently caressed the head of the sheep pokemon.

Hop grinned, "You should've seen it! It was the first time I had ever wrestled down a pokemon by hand! Then out of respect to me, it decided to become my pokemon!"

The Wooloo turned its head awkwardly back at Hop.

"Baaa...."

Victor turned to him too.

"He says that he was a gift to you from the grass type gym leader Milo."

"ACK!" Hop turned comedically black and white from being exposed.

"Wait, Victor! You understood it!?" Gloria moved inches in front of his face with an excited smile.

Victor somehow seemed unaffected by how close she was and just smiled back.

"Yeah, I kind of learned how to talk to pokemon."

His mother suspiciously leaned her chair back and peeked at him from the kitchen.

"How!? Can you teach me!?" Hop jumped off his Wooloo and took Victor's hand with stars around him.

"Um... I don't think I can. I don't remember how I learned." Victor honestly responded.

"Aw..." Hop looked somewhat disappointed.

"How can a person understand a pokemon, though? That isn't normal, is it?" Gloria asked him.

"I don't know. But I told you guys this because I trust you not to tell any adults." Victor showed his trust in the two of them.

Hop put on a salute stance, "Don't worry! My lips are sealed!"

"Same. But I want to see if you can actually talk to pokemon another time." Gloria laughed.

Seeing nothing serious exposed, Victor's mother smiled and went back to writing down a plan for Victor.

_"Victor needs to learn everything he can about pokemon if he wants to understand his powers... From types of pokemon to the moves they can use. In addition, I have to understand the limitations of what he can do..."_

She got up from her seat and heading into Victor's room.

"Hey, kids? Do you know anywhere where I can get any information about pokemon?"

Gloria immediately piped up. "I live right next to the pokemon research lab! You can learn anything about pokemon and the Galar region! I could show you where it is!"

"Thank you, Gloria." Victor's mother smiled.

"Let's all go together, Victor!" Hop grinned as he grabbed the boy by the hand and started pulling him up to his feet.

His mother's smile faded. "I'm sorry. Victor has to stay here."

Both Gloria and Hop were shocked while Victor just looked a little sad.

"Eh!? But why! We could show him around town!" Gloria pouted.

"Victor can't go outside... Not yet, anyway."

"You won't let him meet my brother, and you won't let him go outside?! That's mean!" Hop had his arms up with a pout of his own.

_"How do I explain this to 4-year old kids?"_ Victor's mom sweatdropped.

"Mama has to teach me some things before I could go outside." Victor said with a small, yet sad smile.

"Eh? Teach you what?" Hop eagerly asked.

"About living in the outside world. It's dangerous, after all." Victor's mother made up.

"Eh? But when could he leave with us then?" Gloria asked with sad eyes.

"...That may be in a long time." The mother sadly smiled.

* * *

**~{Postwick- 11:35PM}~**

"Rooki! Dee!"

"Nggh..."

He felt something pecking his arm.

"Rooki!"

"Mm..." Victor slowly sat up in his Charizard designed pajamas and rubbed his eyes with a small yawn. "What...?"

He blinked multiple times so that his eyes adjusted to the dark of his house.

"Rooki!"

"Hm?" He turned next to him and found a Rookidee beside him. "How did you get in, little guy?"

"Rookidee!" The bird chirped.

"What? Do you need my help? But isn't it really late?"

"Rooki!"

"The forest? I can't go in there. Mama told me not too!"

"Rookidee!"

"Huh?" Victor's drowsiness seemed to fade and turned to worry when he heard the next thing from the bird. "Your friend is in trouble?"

The Rookidee nodded and flapped its wings to fly to the window, then perking itself onto the frame and chirping at Victor to hurry.

The boy slid out of his bed and slipped on his shoes and gray beanie with a determined look. He quietly crept to the door and opened it, then going outside into the darkness and closing it behind him.

The Rookidee flew in front of him to make sure he saw him before proceeding to fly into the Slumbering Weald.

Victor chased after him while ignoring the chilly night air, his breath visible as he moved through the fog of the forest. After nearly a minute of chasing the Rookidee, then pokemon perched itself on top of a large tree that showed signs of recently falling over.

"Rookidee!" 

Victor glanced down at the tree, and his eyes widened to find out of anything, a larger and pinker squirrel pokemon stuck under it.

"Gree...dent..." The pokemon grunted as it desperately tried to push the tree up in order to keep himself from getting crushed.

_"The tree is pushing him down!?"_

"Rooki!" The Rookidee rushed.

"I know! B-But, what can I even do!?"

The Greedent showed signs of losing its strength, the tree lowering on him. 

"Gree!" The Greedent grunted.

Victor did the first thing that came to mind and rushed by the Greedent's side. He bent down under the tree and put his palms under the trunk, then pushing as hard as he could.

"Nnnnnngh!" Victor grunted as he desperately kept pushing and pushing up.

The tree visibly showed signs of being raised.

Victor didn't notice this as he just kept pushing with his eyes closed. But sure enough, with the Greedent pushing with the surprising additional strength from the four-year-old, the two of them were able to just barely able roll the tree off to the side.

The moment they did, Victor fell to the ground panting hard and feeling his arms ache.

"Did... *huff* we do...*pant* it?"

The Greedent got back to its feet and cheered. "Greedent!"

"Rookidee!" The Rookidee happily flapped around its saved friend.

The big squirrel pokemon turned and glanced down at Victor.

"Gree!"

"Um... I don't think I did much *huff*, but you're welcome..." Victor panted.

The Greedent noticed how worn out the boy seemed to be by just that, then reaching down and picking him up.

"Gree."

"Take me home? Thank you..."

"Rooki!" The Rookidee started flying ahead to lead them out of the forest with Greedent following him on two legs rather clumsy.

"Greedent! Gree!"

"I... really did help lift the tree? But I'm not that strong... Am I?" Victor yawned.

As they left, someone watched them from another tree. It stepped into the light of the branch, revealing a frog-like ninja pokemon. But this pokemon's body was colored black with a redder tongue than the usual blue frame and pink tongue.

"Greninja..." It whispered curiously.

* * *

**~{Next Day: 10:35 AM}~**

"Alright, Victor! Here are the books you're going to study!" His mother said proudly as she slammed a pile of books onto the table.

"But I don't like reading!" Victor whined.

"Hey! You want to go outside, don't you? The faster you learn about pokemon, the faster the time will come to leave."

"Yes, mama!" Victor saluted immediately.

There were several books in front of Victor that had to do with pokemon types, pokemon habitats, the Galar region's pokemon, and even the pokemon of other regions.

"First, let's start with the types of pokemon! There are 18 types of pokemon total, each with their strengths and weaknesses against other typings!"

Victor flipped through the books and wrote stuff down as his mother lectured him.

As they studied, the Greninja was peeking in through the kitchen window and watched as the boy scribble down notes. This was rather odd of a four-year-old boy, and the pokemon let his curiosity get the best of him.

After observing him yesterday, he understood what Arceus meant when describing the unique boy and his possible abilities. But what had him more curious was his willingness to go out in the middle of the night to help a pokemon he didn't even know. Especially when Victor had helped push up the tree, most likely, he would've been crushed. After all, one would typically think that a four-year-old boy wouldn't be strong enough even to help lift up a tree. Victor himself should've known that, yet he committed to helping in the very end and seemed to get lucky that he had some sort of boosted strength to lift the tree barely.

"What's super effective against rock, other than water!" Victor's mom pointed at him with a book.

"Rock!" Victor answered confidently.

A thrown eraser comedically hit him on the head and knocked him back, even surprising Greninja.

"Wrong!" His mother snapped.

Victor got up from the ground with comedic tears and a red bump on his head.

"B-But if two rocks hit each other, then wouldn't both break apart!?"

"..." Victor's mom looked up in curious thought. "You know... I guess that would make sense." But she pointed another book at him. "But still wrong!"

Greninja sweatdropped. This kid had a tough road ahead.

He watched him closely every day. He would either be studying, or play with his three friends, Hop, Gloria, and the Wooloo. But in the night time was when things got interesting.

Ever since Victor had gone out and saved Greedent, news of his ability to understand pokemon spread within the wildlife. This resulted in more pokemon coming nearly every night to ask him for assistance in something.

Whether it was Rookidees or Skwovets, there was always at least one that scurried into his house and woke the boy up for help. From helping them collect food to helping move stuff around, the boy always complied with a big smile and showed no sign of reluctance or discomfort to the pokemon. Even if the tasks were somewhat dangerous, such as helping end a fight between two pokemon, he still never backed out to help.

But the boy never left his house other than when he went into the forest. He was never able to go out and explore the town due to his mother cautiously making him stay indoors.

Despite this, he was always cheerful. Especially when his only two human friends came over and excitingly talked about whatever they could find a conversation about. Hop had even shown Victor his brother Leon and how he became the champion of Galar. Something, they even helped to teach Victor some things about pokemon too.

He watched the boy day after day. He watched when Victor memorized every type of pokemon including the strengths and weaknesses, he watched when Hop and Gloria would argue about which of them would become champion in the future while Victor just laughed, and he watched when the boy would study late at night until another pokemon would come to ask for help.

Even when his birthday came, he watched.

They were all at Victor's house. His mother, Hop, Gloria, and even their parents. They were at the kitchen table as Victor excitedly stared at the birthday cake in front of him.

After he had blown the candles, Hop immediately proceeded to ask:

"What'd you wish for? Huh?!"

Victor grinned at him.

"I wanna go and travel Galar!"

"..." Everyone turned to his mother with a blank stare.

"Jiiiiiiiii..."

"Wh-What? Oh, come on! It's not like I want to keep him inside! H-He's just not ready!"

"I know that." Victor cheerfully answered. "I know that one day, I'll be able to leave, but this is still the only wish I have! I know mama only wants me to be ready."

_"Oh Victor, what did I do to deserve a son like you?"_ His mother thought while comedically crying in bliss.

But Greninja knew that there was still so much time left for the boy.

The next year came by when Victor had memorized much more than just pokemon typings. He had studied many of the pokemon of the Galar region, pokemon outside of the region, pokemon moves, and even the habitats of pokemon.

That was when something new about him was explained by his mother.

Both he and his mother sat across from each other on the kitchen table, where his mother looked rather serious again.

"Victor, you've made a lot of progress ever since you started to study. So... I think you're ready to start trying to use some of your powers. Or learn to understand what you can do at least."

"Really!?" Victor smiled excitingly.

"Yes... But tell me, have you ever showed any signs of using any powers before?"

Victor thought about it.

"No, mama... I never really did."

"Well, that somewhat makes sense. You weren't able to bring out your powers at such a young age because your body hasn't developed enough strength or power to actually use any pokemon moves. But now that you're 5... You may be able to bring out an eensy weensy bit of power."

Victor had a blank look on his face. "Mama, if I couldn't use powers last year, then why didn't you let me go out to play?"

"You were still able to use powers, just not on your own terms. So I didn't want you suddenly doing something by accident."

"Okay then..." Victor pouted at the thought that he could've gone somewhere without worrying too much about doing something terrible.

"Now, first, I would like to explain how strong you are, Victor." His mother stood up and took a book, then flipping to a specific page. "Our lab modified your DNA-"

"DNA?" Victor looked confused.

"Er..." She forgot that she hadn't taught him actual science a normal kid should receive. "It looks like I need to teach you a lot more... DNA is um... It's a thingy that makes you... 'you.' It's what makes up a person, the information for a person basically."

Three question marks appeared over Victor's head.

"I'll explain it more later! Just know that it's what makes a person!"

"Okay?" Victor tilted his head.

She then showed him the page of a certain pokemon.

"A Slaking!" Victor smiled.

"Good on you to remember. But this Slaking is important because you're meant to be as strong as it."

Victor blinked. "Eh?"

His mother adjusted her glasses. "When studying Slaking, we discovered that as an ape of the sort, he's actually related to humans. We evolved from them, after all. So using this knowledge, we were able to combine a part of a Slaking's DNA to you without causing any dangerous mutations or causing any damage to your body. So now you have to potential to be as powerful as a Slaking itself."

Victor had steam from his head and swirly eyes as he processed this.

"U-Um... S-So I'm gonna turn into a Slaking!?"

"No, you could become as powerful as a Slaking, but you won't become one."

Victor remembered when he raised the tree up with the Greedent a year ago.

_"So I was stronger even there because of how strong a Slaking was? The tree still felt really heavy, though..."_

Right outside, the Greninja narrowed its eyes as it learned more about Victor.

His mother flipped to the next page of her book and showed the Slaking's stats.

"All of your abilities will be enhanced based on a Slaking. Your physical strength will be increased, you'll be faster, and be able to take attacks from pokemon more than any normal person. But like it shows here, Slaking isn't that strong against special attacks, so _you_ won't have much of a better defense against those."

She noticed Victor frantically struggling to write this down and understand, giving him a moment to catch up.

"I think I get it, mama... But some of these words are making my head hurt..."

"Just write everything down and review it later to fully understand it." His mother closed the book. "In addition to Slaking's DNA, we were able to change your body so that it would be able to adjust to any type of pokemon attack you want to use. So if you use a fire type move, your body won't burn, and if you use a poison type move, you won't be poisoned. You're even going to be able to use special attacks."

"Really? How many moves can I use?"

"Excellent question!" His mother's glasses reflected the sunlight as she stood up from her seat. "My team had intended for you to be able to use _any_ pokemon attack!"

"Any move!?" Victor was thrilled.

"Well, it _was_ intended for you to be able to use any pokemon attack. But there were some obvious complications that hindered your potential..."

_"She keeps using big grown-up words!"_ Victor thought as he wrote down what she said to search up definitions later.

"There are many moves that your body _literally_ can't do. Such as **Fly** , because you don't have wings, and **Dig** , because you don't have claws or anything to dig fast enough. We also believe that you can't use any legendary moves because the power would be too great for you to be able to replicate."

"But other than that, I can use any move?"

"Provided that you know how to perform the move, you practice it, and your body is actually able to perform it, then yes." She looked down into her book as she continued to speak.

"But this is also a reason why it's dangerous for you Victor. You could end up unconsciously bring out a move based on emotion. Just like when we were at the laband you teleported us out. You thought about how much you wanted to be outside in the flowers and the move Teleport fit what you wanted to do, to get out. _Which_ is why it's important for you to learn to control your powers! Because if you let out a powerful and dangerous move based on your emotions, you may end up hurting someone without meaning too."

"But I can learn so many moves!" Victor stared down in his hands thinking of all the possibilities.

"Yes, but HOWEVER!"

Victor flinched.

His mother took off her glasses and stared at her son with the most serious of glares.

"Even with the added stats of a pokemon, you're still human Victor... You still take more damage than a pokemon would when getting hit by an attack. The added defenses of a Slaking will only allow you to take maybe a few more attacks from a pokemon... If any at all based on the attack, so don't think you're invincible."

"In...vincible?" Victor repeated.

"Fighting a pokemon is dangerous Victor... So try not to ever do it. You can't heal easily in a pokemon center like any injured pokemon, even if a part of a pokemon's DNA is in you... You can't heal injuries with potions like pokemon... Your injuries _will_ be more serious."

Victor stared down at his hands in a look of worry.

"Mama... Don't you think you told me this kind of fast? I don't even know some of the words you said..."

His moved just waved a book at him. "Hey, you wrote everything down. Just search up the big words later with that phone Hop let you borrow."

"..." Greninja hearing all this new knowledge painted a good picture of how strong Victor could be. Even if he somehow had these abilities, fighting a strong pokemon would still be very dangerous for him as a human. His defenses wouldn't be as strong as a pokemon and the boy didn't even know how to effectively fight one.

So maybe he didn't have to worry too much about him doing anything terrible.

But for now, he still continued to watch him.

* * *

**~{The Next Night- 10:59 PM}~**

Victor had his lamp on as he finished reviewing the information his mother had told him, feeling more and more conflicted about the whole thing as he searched up the words his now five-year-old mind wasn't able to understand before when he first listened.

"To be able to grow stronger like a Slaking... So from what Mama said, as I grow older then I'll kind of level up to increase all my stats and get stronger... But I have to be extra careful if I ever fight a pokemon..."

"Skwo!"

Victor turned his head to a Rookidee flying to his bedside in a panicked manner.

"Hey buddy, do you need my help again?" He grinned as he gently rubbed the Rookidee's head.

"Rookidee! Dee!"

His smile faded as heard him.

Outside, Greninja narrowed his eyes as he heard what the pokemon said too.

Quickly putting on his shoes and a coat, Victor dashed as fast as he could into the forest with the Rookidee leading him more and more within.

Victor nervously turned his head as the trees seemed to get bigger the deeper he got into the forest. He had never gone too far when the pokemon had asked him for help. And now that he was heading farther into the forest, he realized that the fog actually seemed to be getting somewhat thicker.

But soon, he came to a somewhat surprisingly clear opening, only there was a large pokemon with its wings open for dominance as it glared down at another pokemon on the ground.

Victor's pupils shrunk in some fear as he saw the large bird-like pokemon.

_"Th-That's a Corviknight!"_

"Coooooooorv!!!" The raven Pokemon cawed.

On the ground in front of him was a significantly much small pokemon. It was only another small Skwovet in obvious pain.

"What happened!?" Victor asked the Rookidee that led him here.

"Rooki! Rooki!"

"What?" Victor noticed the pile of berries behind the Coviknight that the Rookidee was referring too. "He was only hungry and the Coviknight got angry because it tried to take one of its berries?!"

"Corv!!" The Corviknight flapped its wings and its beak grew white as it attempted to drill its beak into the injured Skwovet, to which the squirrel pokemon only just managed to jump before the attack pierced the ground.

"Skwo!" It tumbled on the ground and shook in pain.

The Corviknight plucked its beak from the ground and glared at the Skwovet, intending on not missing the next time.

"Wait! Wait!" Victor rushed between the Skwovet and Corviknight and stuck his arms out as if not intending to let him pass. "He was only hungry! Do you really need to do this much to him?!"

The raven's pupils seemed to shrink in anger when it saw Victor.

"Corv..."

"Eh? Y-Yeah... I'm the boy who can understand pokemon... Am I famous?"

Corvknight moved its faced threateningly close to the small boy with a threatening glare.

"Corv!!"

"B-But I can't just leave and let you hurt him! He's weaker than you! Why continue to bully him!?!"

Corviknight back up and opened its large wings.

"COOOOORV!!!!!" Its cry echoed throughout the forest.

Victor's legs started shaking in place, but he formed a serious look.

"N-No! I won't move and let you hurt him!"

Hearing this, the Corviknight had enough and flapped its wings to raise itself off the ground, it's talons opening up menacingly.

"CORV!!" It rushed forward with the intent to slash him.

Victor closed his eyes with tears.

"No!!"

The Corviknight's body ended up colliding with a barrier of the sort that sent it clumsily flapping back before falling to the ground on it's back.

Hearing this Victor opened his eyes and was stunned to see a transparent barrier in front of him.

_"Th-This is... Protect? Did... Did I do it!? I used a pokemon move!?"_

He had a big smile and turned back to the Skwovet that was getting comforted by the Rookidee, both looking stunned at him.

"Look! I did it! I use a pokemon move!"

"CORVIKNIGHT!!!"

Victor turned blue in fear as he heard the cry of rage.

_"Uh oh."_

When he turned back, the Corviknight flapped with its beak pointed directly forward and glowing white.

_"That's Drill Peck!"_ Victor shivered.

The moment the large Pokemon's beak connected with the barrier of a now 5-year old child, it instantly shattered.

"AH!" The force sent Victor tumbling back right next to the injured Skwovet with the Rookidee.

"Skwo!" "Rooki!" Both pokemon cried out in worry.

Victor wearily pushed himself up while covered in dirt.

"Nngh... Are you guys okay?"

"Skwo!"

"Behind me?" Victor turned around and saw the Corviknight already circling back.

"CORV!!" Its beak shined white once again as it intended to pierce through whoever he connected to.

Victor's first instinct was to grab both the Skwovet and Rookidee while clamping his eyes shut, intending on using his own body to somehow shield them.

"Ninja!"

A water shuriken came from above in blinding speed, suddenly clipping the Corviknight on his beak. This sudden hit caused him to move off course to the right which resulted in his head hitting the ground and tumbling rather violently on the ground passed Victor.

The three of them covered their eyes as a lot of dust kicked up from Corviknight tumbling onto the ground until crashing into a tree to stop him.

Victor opened his eyes and turned to see parts of the ground dug into, showing the area where the raven pokemon had gone through.

"What... happened?"

The Corviknight was already getting up, although rather clumsily, and started shaking its head to shake off the dirt on it.

It then glanced up into the trees, clearly pissed off.

"Corviknight!"

Victor turned to where he was looking and his eyes widened at a figure standing high up on a branch.

The long, tongue-like scarf, the professional and straight stance, the frog-like features, he knew what it was.

"A... Greninja?" Victor was in awe. It was indeed a Greninja, but not any kind of Greninja. It was one with black color instead of blue and a deeper red tongue rather than a usual pink one.

The Greninja even seemed to sparkle.

_"What kind of Greninja is that!?"_

"Ninja!" 

"Corv!

"Gre, Gre, ninja!"

Victor ignored the conversation as his confused mind just processed the Greninja's presence.

_"What's a Greninja doing here? I remember reading that they were supposed to be in Kalos?"_

"Corviknight!" The large pokemon spread open its winds in a challenging stance.

"Ninja." The Greninja looked unamused as it stuck it's arms out and formed two water shurikens in each of its hands.

"CORV!!" Corvinkight flapped upward and its wings suddenly started glowing with a somewhat metallic color.

_"Steel Wing!"_ Knew just by seeing the move.

"Gre-" Greninja leaped off the tree branch and started rapidly spinning towards his incoming opponent. "-NINJA!!"

He vanished and suddenly a visible slash came at the Corrviknight, causing a small explosion to occur in the air by the impact.

Victor had barely even saw what happened. But the next thing he knew, the Corviknight fell to the ground with swirling eyes, clearly unconscious.

"Cooooooorrrr..." It moaned.

A few yards away, the Greninja landed in a crouching manner with his back to the Corviknight, his water shurikens disappearing from him his hand.

"So cool!!!" Victor cried with sparkling eyes.

"Hmph..." Greninja stood up and peaked at Victor. He narrowed his eyes at him before turning around and starting to walk away.

"W-Wait!" Victor got up and started running towards the Greninja.

Greninja saw him coming from the corner of his eye and leaped up into a tree to get away from him.

"Wait, Mr. Greninja!" Victor called as he kept running deeper and deeper into the forest.

He kept chasing him even after the Greninja seemed to disappear into the forest. The fog had gotten thicker and Victor was getting tired, yet he aimlessly explored to try and find the pokemon that had saved him.

"Mr. Greninja! Please come back!" He shouted in the forest.

At one point, he tripped over a tree root.

"Ah!" He tumbled along the ground until stopping on his side.

It was at this point where the cold air of the night started to catch up to him. His breathing was more visible and he felt himself shivering.

"Please... Come back..."

He curled up into a little ball and closed his eyes, feeling his consciousness starting to fade away.

After about a minute of showing no movement, _he_ jumped out from a tree and landed next to Victor.

"..." Greninja crouched down to the boy and saw him shivering.

"Ninja..." He sighed in irritation at the foolish boy that had tried to aimlessly find him.

He picked up the boy and carefully held him in his arms, then turning around and jumping into the trees.

As they left, the silhouettes of two wolve-like creatures watched from afar. Then getting enveloped into the fog.

He leaped majestically from branch to branch, surprising some flying pokemon by how fast he was jumping without showing any signs of stopping.

At one point, he heard Victor mumble.

"Pa...pa..."

The Greninja stopped on a branch and narrowed his eyes on the boy. In the time watching him, he had not once seen a father around. He wondered if his mother ever actually told him about his father anytime he wasn't watching him, but decided it didn't concern him.

He continued to jump until he made it out of the forest and caught view of Victor's house. He carefully sneaked to the home and managed to slip himself and Victor through the open kitchen window. From there, he just carried the boy to his bed and gently placed him down.

"..." He stared down at the boy's sleeping face, then moving the blankets to cover him up.

"Gre...ninja..." The pokemon sighed at the foolish boy that had nearly lost his life trying to protect two random pokemon. Even though he probably knew the worst would happen, he still tried to save them.

He turned around and started to take a few steps away.

But then...

"Gotcha!"

The Greninja flinched as he felt something wrap around his arm. He turned his head in shock to find Victor awake and clinging onto his arm with both his arms and legs wrapped around it.

"Greninja! Greninja!" The pokemon cried as it violently tried to shake Victor off of him, only to be surprised by the boy's hard grip.

"WAit! I wANna tALk tO YOu!" Victor said in a warbly voice from being shaken while speaking.

"Gre! Gre! Ninja!" Greninja stopped and warned him to stop shouting and shut up or his mother will wake up.

"It's okay! She won't ever wake up when she goes to sleep! She sleeps harder than a Snorlax!"

"Ninja!"

"No, if I let go, then you'll leave!"

"Greninja!" The pokemon was getting annoyed as it kept swinging its arm to fling Victor off.

PWEase, I wANNa aSK yOU sOMe quEStionS!"

Greninja stopped with cross-veins of irritation on his head.

"Greninja!"

"Why are you here in Galar!? Isn't your home in Kalos!?" Victor proceeded to ask first and ignoring the pokemon's demands to let go.

Greninja formed a Water Shuriken in his other hand and raised it up over Victor, threatening to swing onto him to scare the boy off.

Yet Victor just looked up at him with pleading eyes, showing no signs of moving off his arm.

His eye twitched as he knew that he really didn't wanna strike the child. Without _too_ good of a reason that is.

"Gre..." He sighed in defeat, sitting down on the bed while Victor readjusted his hold on his arm.

Victor cheerfully smiled as he hugged the ninja's arm. "So why are you here Mr. Greninja? Did the big, white pokemon that the other pokemon told me about tell you to watch over me?"

Greninja was surprised at the boy's deduction.

"That's the only reason why I think you would be here, save me, and then try to leave as if you don't care."

Greninja's eye twitched. This kid was more aware than he looked.

"Ninja..."

"I knew it!" Victor seemed proud of himself, but then formed a curious gaze. "Hey Mr.Greninja, what's the big, white pokemon's name?"

"Gre, ninja?"

"No, mama and the other pokemon didn't tell me... They won't even tell me why they won't tell me."

"Ninja. Greninja."

"Eh?! Not you too!? Why does no one wanna tell me anything!?" Victor whined.

"Ninja!" He said in a serious tone.

"What? I shouldn't know? But why!?"

"Ninja..."

"But if I don't ask questions, then I won't get answers!" Victor pouted.

The Greninja tugged his arm to see if Victor's grip loosened, but obviously, it hadn't.

"Gre, ninja."

"...Do you really think I'll meet him?" Victor blinked.

Greninja nodded.

"I wanna meet the white pokemon too. Mama told me it took us here, and I'm really happy it did." Victor's grip tightened as he looked down in sadness. "The white lab scared me sometimes..."

Greninja's eyes squinted in suspicion by what he meant.

"Gre?"

"Hm? Well, the place didn't seem too bad. I always ate delicious food and got to play with many other kids." Victor formed a small smile.

"Ninja?"

"Yeah, there were others. But I don't really know what happened to them... Sometimes they looked sick and the doctors would take them to the 'special room'. But I never saw them again whenever they left..."

Greninja's eyes widened.

"There were a lot of us. A big number of 50!" Victor said in a proud manner from remembering. 

But then his smile faded as he recalled more of the past. "But before mama took me out of the lab, I was the only one left..."

Greninja gazed away.

"..."

"..."

"Hey, Mr.Greninja?"

Greninja reluctantly glanced down at Victor's sad expression.

"I'm... not gonna see them again... Am I?"

"..." Greninja shook his head.

"I thought so..." Victor cuddled against him as if for comfort.

They both remained in momentary silence.

Greninja felt Victor adjust himself on his arm. "Thank you for saving the little Skwovet and Rookidee..."

Greninja stared at the foolish boy who didn't even thank him for saving _him_ too. He guessed that he only really thought about the other pokemon rather than himself.

"You were really cool. You took down that Corviknight in one attack. That was really amazing..."

"..."

Victor stared up with a hopeful look. "Do you think I can protect anyone? Just like how you do it?

Greninja narrowed his eyes in what seemed to be a glare.

"Ninja. Greninja."

"I-I don't really mean fighting against a pokemon myself. But if I was able to fight against that Corviknight... Then I would've. I wasn't just going to leave that Skwovet in trouble..."

Greninja stood up rather annoyed.

"Gre, Gre! Ninja!"

"Just catch pokemon to fight for me?"

"Ninja!"

Victor pouted. "I don't want to fight and catch pokemon like that! And I don't want to always trouble my pokemon to fight for me! I want to be able to fight my own battles! If my pokemon are in trouble, then who's gonna protect them?!"

Greninja's eyes widened at his claim.

Victor visibly shook.

"I-I wanna be a person that people and pokemon both can rely on..."

He glanced outside the window at the night sky.

"So many pokemon asked me for help because I'm the only one who can easily talk to them... I know that so many pokemon need help. I want to be able to help them as much as I can, just like helping normal people... I wanna leave home an be able to do that."

"..." Greninja stared at the boy in wonder. He honestly seemed like an idiot to him, but at the same time, the boy had a clear path of simply just helping whoever he wants. Even if he has to go up _against_ pokemon to help pokemon.

But he knew the boy wouldn't be able to go up against them without proper help.

He rubbed the back of his head and sighed. "Ninja..."

"Huh?" Victor looked up to him in shock, "You even listened to all the secrets Mama told me?"

Greninja nodded.

"Gre..." He turned his head away awkwardly. "Ninja..."

Victor blinked.

"What was that?"

"Gre, ninja." He repeated.

"You wanna teach me? Teach me what?"

"Greninja!" The pokemon spoke clearly in frustration.

Victor's eyes turned completely into stars as he had the biggest smile Greninja had ever seen.

"You're gonna teach me to fight?!"

Greninja nodded.

Victor let go of his arm and stood on his bed while flailing his arms and legs around to imitate ninja attacks.

"I'm gonna be like a ninja!? That's so cool! Am I going to be throwing shurikens!?" 

He punched the air. "Will I jump high like you!?" 

He swung his leg, but ended up falling off the bed.

"Ah-OOF!" He landed upside down on the floor.

"Ninja..." Greninja muttered.

"Eh!? Don't change your mind!" Victor got upright and looked up at him with adorable watery eyes.

The pokemon pointed down at him. "Ninja! Ninja!"

"O-Okay! I'll take it seriously!"

Greninja got off the bed and crouched down at the boy's level.

"Greninja. Greninja. Gre, gre. Ninja, gre, ninja."

Victor formed a serious and mature look for a child.

"I know it'll probably be hard... But I wanna do it!"

The Greninja pat the boy on the head. Then he stood up and started heading for the window, giving one last glance to Victor.

"Ninja."

He leaped out the window and disappeared in the night.

Victor smiled as he left, looking down into his hands.

"To fight like a Greninja..."

He hugged his pillow with a childish happy expression.

"So cool!!"

**~{The Next Day-11:11 AM}~**

"You met a Greninja last night!?" Victor's mother cried out in shock.

"Yeah Mama, and I even used a pokemon move!"

His mother nearly fainted back into the chair of the kitchen table.

"Wh-What exactly happened Victor!?"

"Heehee, um... Promise me you won't be angry..." Victor asked with puppy eyes.

His mom had a blank stare on her.

"What did you do?"

He then proceeded to explain heading outside every single night in order to help out pokemon that needed him. Then he told her about the encounter with the Corviknight and the Greninja, before concluding on how the Greninja offered to teach him.

His mother was blue by the time he was done.

"Y-Y-You d-did this e-every night!?!"

"I'm sorry Mama!" Victor apologized.

She rushed at him and started pulling on his cheeks angrily. "You could've gotten yourself hurt, or maybe even worse, killed!! Do you know how dangerous those woods are!? Even Hop and Gloria's families say not to go in them!!"

"B-Bwut I hwave to gwo in there ifth I wanna twain with Gweninja!" Victor spoke as his cheeks were pulled.

"Give me _one_ good reason why I should allow you to go outside into the forest with a pokemon!?" She let go of his cheeks to let him speak.

Victor stared up at her with watery eyes.

"Because I wanna learn how to fight with my powers! You told me that it would be dangerous for me to fight pokemon even when I could use their moves, but what if I wanna protect pokemon rather than go fight them!? I wanna be able to save pokemon like a superhero! That's why every night I went to help them! Because they need help!"

Victor's mom was in stunned silence by that claim. She found herself unable to speak.

"Please let me train with Mr. Greninja, mama! I also want to protect you if any of those bad guys come for us again! I don't wanna lose you like papa!"

She felt her blood grow cold.

_"So... He figured it out? He knew and still stayed strong..."_

She gazed to the ground, shadows over her eyes.

"Victor... You said that you used a pokemon move... right? Which one was it again?"

"Um... It was Protect."

"And who were you protecting?"

"A Rookidee and a Skwovet from a Corviknight."

"How... How was it?"

Victor looked down in shame, "I'm sorry Mama... I know you didn't want me using moves from my feelings, but it just happened... I was scared. Not scared of me getting hurt, but scared of the pokemon getting hurt."

He heard his mother chuckle. "I should've expected that you'd bring something out just to protect a pokemon..." She lifted her head to reveal a loving smile to her son. "Victor... I honestly didn't know how I was going to teach you to use pokemon moves. I was kind of stalling by teaching you other things while I figured out what we could do... But do you think that this Greninja may actually be able to help teach you your powers?"

Victor formed an ear to ear grin. "Yes! I have pokemon powers, so wouldn't the best one to teach me to use them would be a pokemon?"

His mother held him close in a tight hug.

"Alright then... I'll trust you, Victor..."

Victor tightly held her back.

"Thank you, mama!"

Outside, Greninja listened in on them. But rather than standing up, he was sitting with his back against the wall.

"Ninja..." He rubbed his head and sighed, wondering what he got himself into.


	3. Understanding One's Improvments

"Skwo! Skwo!"

"Rooki! Rooki!"

"Greedent Gree!"

Many watching pokemon cheered as Victor stood on top of a small boulder on only one foot. He had his arms stretched out in the shape of a T but with one knee raised up. In both of his palms and on top of his head, the boy was balancing cups of water. His clothes showed signs of being soaked already, yet he kept an earnest look of determination as he struggled to keep balance.

Greninja was on another boulder beside him, effortlessly keeping balance on one foot with his eyes closed and arms crossed. He just remained silent as Victor showed shaky movement, only waiting for when the boy would lose his balance... again.

They were in the foggy forest that was the Slumbering Weald once more, right beside a river that they used to fill the cups whenever Victor would fall. It was night time, as they had agreed to teach Victor mostly at night since he was always awake at that time anyway.

"Gre." Greninja cued a few Rookidees waiting on the side.

"Rooki!" Two of them flapped their wings and flew up to each of Victor's arms.

The moment both landed on both arms, the boy's balance tipped over.

"GYAH!"

The Rookidees flew up as Victor fell off the rock and onto the grass while the water he was holding spilled onto him in the process.

"Gre. Greninja-"

"I know, I know, find my 'core' position that I can stay in without struggling to balance!" Victor said as he got back up.

"Grenin-"

"And spread out my toes, so it's easier to stand on one leg..." He muttered as he picked up the cups.

Greninja nodded as Victor went back to the river and filled the cups to use again.

_ "This is harder than I thought..." _

"Ninja. Greninja."

Victor climbed back up the boulder while holding the cups but raised an eyebrow at what Greninja said. "Keep my spine straight when balancing so I don't shift forward or back?" 

"Ja."

"Don't you think you should've told me that sooner?"

"..." Greninja turned away. "Ninja."

"You forgot!?"

* * *

"Um, Victor. Why are you balancing a cup on your head?" Hop asked with a question mark over his head.

Hop and Victor were sitting beside each other on the couch as the TV showed a pokemon stadium battle.

Victor turned to Hop, the plastic cup on his head balanced perfectly.

"I'm learning to keep my body balanced. I'm actually getting pretty good at it."

"...But why though?" Hop asked.

"So, I don't fall over."

"..." Hop confusingly turned back to the television screen before forming an ear to ear grin. "Look! It's Lee! That's my brother!"

Victor turned back to the screen and saw an older boy who seemed to be only around the age of ten. On the screen was his name displayed, Leon.

"He's the Galar champion!" Hop bragged proudly.

Victor was surprised. "But he's not even a grown-up."

"That just shows how strong he and his pokemon are!" Hop jumped on the couch excitingly, to which Victor had trouble keeping his cup balanced on his head from the bouncy movement.

He stared at the older boy on the screen as he sent out a powerful looking Charizard.

Victor then turned back to Hop. "Hey, where's Gloria?" 

"Hm? Oh, she's studying at the Pokemon Research Lab right now." Hop said as he sat back down.

Now that was new. "Studying? Studying for what?"

"To go with you when you travel Galar." Hop smiled.

"Eh? Why does she need to study?  _ What _ does she even need to study? I thought you guys knew a lot about pokemon already."

"She told me before that she's not studying Pokemon right now. Her mum said that she has to learn things like cooking and searching for food outside if she wants to be able to leave one day. She needs to know how to live outside if she wants to leave."

Victor blinked and realized that indeed living outside would be an issue if he went traveling. He jumped off the couch and somehow still kept the cup of water balanced on his head.

"Mama!"

"Yes?" His mother peaked from the kitchen.

"Teach me how to live outside!"

* * *

** ~{Six Years Old}~ **

"OWOWOWOWOWOW!!!"

Victor's voice caused dozens of Rookidee to soar out of the trees startled.

Greninja was holding the boy's shoulders as he slowly pushed him down closer to the ground. Victor had one leg forward and the other back, slowly sliding both feet farther and farther away so that his pelvis area lowered closer to the ground.

"Greninja."

"But it hurts!" Victor whined as his arms shook from keeping himself up.

"Gre, Greninja!"

"A-All right... N-Nice and easy..."

After what felt like minutes of excruciating pain, Victor found himself doing the splits.

His face brightened.

"I did it! I did it! Mr.Greninja!"

Greninja let go of the boy's shoulders and nodded that he indeed accomplished the intended task.

"Ninja. Greninja."

Victor turned nervously blue. 

"Wh-What do you mean now I have to go all the way down in one go?"

People ended up reporting haunting cries coming from the Slumbering Weald.

As more future days came across, Victor spent more time imitating Greninja's punching and kicking movement while they trained beside a river.

Greninja swiped the air, Victor followed. He precisely waved his arms while spinning his body, Victor did the same. When Greninja did the splits in one fall, Victor did the same.

He regretted doing the splits like that each time.

* * *

** ~{Eight Years Old}~ **

"I'm so happy that your mum actually let us go here!" Gloria happily smiled as she and Victor explored the inside of a large windmill. The sun was setting as they entered an area in the windmill where the gears turned.

"She only let me come here because it was close and you were with me, but it a good start! But why isn't Hop with us though?" Victor curiously asked as he admired the turning gears.

"Hop went to the arena with his folks to watch his brother Leon in the stadium. So... it's just us here." Gloria answered, although seeming somewhat nervous when she mentioned that last part.

"Oh well, I'll just come here again with him next time." Victor remarked as he turned back to Gloria with a smile.

"I guess so." Gloria smiled back. "Oo! Follow me!"

Victor looked curious as he followed a running Gloria to a ladder. 

"Up here!" Gloria was so excited when she climbed up the ladder. Victor followed her afterward and the two ended up right beside the main gears of the windmill. Victor stared curiously at the gears and wondered if this was what Gloria was excited to show him.

"Come here before it turns dark!" She rushed him to a window.

The boy ran over as Gloria opened a small window and presented the awe-inspiring view.

Victor's eyes widened as he got a broad view of Postwick and the small town of Wedgehurst. He saw the sunset's beautiful colors on the horizon and even saw the colors reflecting off of the river in the area. He saw many Wooloo grazing the fields, Butterfree and Rookidee flying in the sky, and many people walking along with their pokemon.

"It's so pretty..." 

Victor was stunned; he had never seen such a large site like this ever since coming to Galar. Being isolated, he had never seen much of what the world had to offer, but this view made him excited to see many others like it. Traveling the region, appreciating the sights, meeting new pokemon, he was excited about it all.

Gloria smiled in a satisfied manner, "I know, right!? It's my favorite spot! I took Hop here once, but he didn't seem to care how pretty it was. He just kept pointing out the pokemon..."

"The pokemon are part of the reason why I think it's so pretty..." Victor answered with a small smile.

Gloria looked outside at the world, feeling glad that she brought Victor there. 

"I'm glad you like it..."

They both remained in momentary silence.

"Hey, Victor..." Gloria looked down somewhat nervously, even forming a red tint in her cheeks.

"Yeah?" Victor's gaze remained on the view.

"When you leave to explore Galar... We'll go together, right?"

Victor turned to her with a bright smile. "Of course! We'll all go together! You, me, and Hop!"

Gloria was visibly happy and relieved as Victor turned his head back to appreciate the view.

She turned and watched as the orange and red colors slowly darkened behind the horizon. Then, out of a sudden urge, she leaned her head and rested on the boy's shoulder.

Victor curiously glanced at her by the sudden contact, but didn't think too much of it as he used a hand to gently stroke the back of her head.

* * *

** ~{10-Years Old}~ **

"Hup! Hup!" Victor uttered as he ran and jumped from branch to branch high in the trees. By now, his body was clearly healthy and fit for a 10-year-old boy exercising nearly every night. He followed Greninja as the pokemon leaped over multiple branches rather than running across multiple ones.

_ "He's getting farther!" _ Victor was feeling frustrated as he saw Greninja starting to disappear into the fog.  _ "I have to catch up! Come on! Come on!" _

Victor jumped up and used a branch to swing himself forward, then sliding down a diagonal branch and leaping to another.

_ "Faster! Faster!" _

Victor started to glow white.

_ "Faster!" _

He suddenly blasted forward as a blur, basically bouncing off of branch to branch and heading for Greninja.

Greninja turned back just as the white blur passed him, making him stop in surprise.

He had seen Victor use Quick Attack.

Greninja narrowed its eyes and put its hands together, then vanishing on the spot.

At the same time, Victor struggled to keep track of his own speed and footing.

_ "I passed him! I passed him! But now I can't stop!? How do I even stop!?" _

He nearly tripped on a branch before leaping forward.

_ "I'm in trouble!" _

He leaped forward again.

Before someone yanked him by his collar and pulled him up.

Victor blinked as he processed what happened. He was hanging in the air and looked up to see Greninja holding him up while the pokemon was somehow upside down on a branch.

"Eh?"

Greninja used his free hand to point ahead in the path Victor had been running. The boy turned to see a large opening ahead without any trees, one where the boy would've fallen if he had kept going.

He glanced back up at Greninja, "Y-You caught up?"

"Ninja."

"..."

Victor hung his head in defeat.

"Even though I passed you, I still lost..."

Greninja patted him.

"Gre... Ninja."

"Huh?" Victor looked up with a new feeling of excitement growing. "I-It's finally time?"

Greninja nodded.

* * *

The two stared across each other while standing in a clear area of grass. Well, clear besides the fog that always remained in the area, that is. The sounds of the rushing river beside them, many chirps and skittering from Skwovets and Rookidees from above, and the breeze blew against their skin as they kept eye contact with each other.

"Before we start, can you tell me something?"

"Ninja?"

"Why did you only wait until now to teach me to use pokemon moves? Could've I had learned them earlier?"

"Ninja, ninja."

"You were getting... my body ready?"

"Greninja. Ninja."

Victor looked surprised.

_ "Pokemon attacks could hurt me even though I'm the one using them?" _

"Wait, but mom told me that they changed my body to be able to use any pokemon type without it hurting my body?"

"Greninja. Grenin, Ja."

"Huh? The recoil and adjusting to it?"

"Ja. Greninja. Gre, Greninja."

Victor punched his own palm with a look of realization.

"Oooooh! I see! Some attacks of pokemon require a lot of force to perform, and because of that, there is a large recoil to them too. But since I'm a just a human, I probably wouldn't have been able to handle the recoil of many strong moves. Pokemon's bodies are usually suited to do those attacks without hurting themselves, right?"

Greninja nodded with his eyes closed. "Greninja. Ja."

"So that's why pokemon with one or two typings can only do certain moves that  _ aren't _ in their typings. Their bodies actually allow them to perform the moves without hurting themselves... but others they  _ literally _ can't perform. But in my case, my body  _ can _ perform those moves, or more like was forced to be able to perform them, so..."

"Ninja."

"So because it was like a forced evolution for me, not every part of me had adjusted to that evolution... So that's why I had to build up my muscles and my flexibility with you, so that my body can handle any backlash of any pokemon move."

Greninja nodded again. "Ninja. Ninja."

"Oh, thanks! Yeah, I got really smart ever since Mom taught me!" Victor smiled at the praise.

Greninja's eyes then opened up into a more serious look. "Ninja."

Victor looked serious too, "Okay... But which one do I even try first?"

"Greninja."

Victor put a hand on his chin, "Protect?"

"Ninja."

"I guess it would be the safest..." He removed his hand from his chin. "Wait, how  _ do  _ I use a pokemon move?"

Greninja put a hand over its heart, "Greninja!"

"With feeling!?!" Victor deadpanned.

"Greninja. Gren. Greninja!" Greninja clapped its webbed paws together.

Victor still had a blank look on his face.

"So let me get this straight... You want me to just focus, stick out my hands, clench my buttocks, and yell 'Protect?'"

His master was nodding, "Ninja. Greninja."

"Pokemon always yell the attacks they're using!? Seriously!?"

Greninja tilted his head. "Gren?"

"Of course people don't know that! They can't understand you!"

Greninja let out a small chuckle.

"Ninja."

"You were only kidding!?"

Greninja pointed a finger up, looking more serious than before.

"Greninja."

"But... saying the move may help me perform it? I'd rather not..." Victor sighed.

"Greninja. Greninja."

"Just picture the move, think what I want it to do, and focus... You should've just said that in the beginning." Victor looked somewhat annoyed.

He then closed his eyes and stuck his arms up. And, despite thinking it was foolish, did indeed clench his buttocks.

He pictured the barrier appearing in front of him, he thought only about protecting himself, and let the warm energy that came up flow through him.

Sure enough, in front of the boy, a transparent but visible barrier emerged.

The audience of small wild pokemon cheered.

Hearing their cheers, Victor opened his eyes and felt his excitement growing.

"I did it! Look Sensei! I did it!"

Greninja stared rather curiously at the barrier, then getting close to it and placing a hand upon it.

He noticed the density.

"How was I Sensei?" Victor asked proudly as he kept up the barrier.

He swore he heard Greninja sigh right before the pokemon started forming a water shuriken in his hand.

"Eh?"

He didn't even get to ask anything before Greninja slammed the shuriken into the barrier, shattering it upon contact.

"WAH!?" Victor flew back and tumbled along the ground before coming to a stop on his back.

"Ninja..."

The boy got up with bulging eyes. "Too weak!? B-But it was able to take a Corviknight's charge!"

Greninja rolled his eyes.

"Greninja. Greninja. Ja."

"O-Okay, maybe he wasn't actually using a real pokemon attack when he charged the first time... But still! It took a heavy hit!"

Greninja suddenly appeared in front of him and started to poke his head.

"Gre-Nin-Ja!"

"Put more feeling?!"

"Ninja!"

Victor thought about it.

_ "A pokemon's attack is stronger the more feeling and emotion are put behind the attack? That's why trainers are usually important for pokemon to grow stronger? Because they share bonds to help them grow in strength and feelings behind their attacks?" _

Victor blinked.

_ "That's how that works!? So he wasn't kidding when he said that you perform a pokemon move BY feeling." _

"Greninja. Gre, greninja. Ja. Gre, ninja!" Greninja continued to lecture.

_ "I need to put more feeling into it..."  _ Victor concluded with a serious look, then glancing back up at Greninja.

"Let's do it again Sensei!"

Greninja saw the fiery determination in the boy's eyes and nodded, then performing a large backflip to land several yards away.

"Greninja!" His Sensei shouted as he positioned both hands behind him.

"Funny, I was going to ask that too! Don't hold back!" Victor agreed.

Greninja for some reason looked forward to this.

"Gre..." He put on a glare as a much larger and more intense spinning water shuriken emerged between his hands.

Victor stuck his arms up, but didn't close his eyes this time. He just kept staring ahead at the intense-looking attack.

"-Ninja!!"

Greninja blasted the rapidly spinning water shuriken forward.

Victor's eyes seemed to glow in a light grayish color.

Another barrier formed in front of him and Greninja's attack slammed into it. Sparks flew as the spinning blades grinded against the barrier with loud, eerie screeching.

"Nnngh!!" Victor felt his feet getting forcefully dragged back in the dirt. His barrier was much denser than before, but Greninja's ninja star had a lot of force to push him back and was starting to cause cracks in said barrier.

_ "Keep it up! Keep it up! You want to be stronger, don't you!? You wanna protect people and pokemon right!?" _

His eyes completely filled in with light gray as he took one breath.

"NGAAAAAH!!" The transparent barrier visibly solidified harder and the cracks suddenly vanished.

Despite this, it wasn't entirely enough to break the shuriken first, so Victor did the next best thing and angled the barrier in front of him, causing the water shuriken to fly upward and into the sky. The fog of the forest seemed to swirl around the star as sliced apart branches and the tips of some trees before then finally disappearing into the denser fog.

The barrier then faded and Victor fell to his knees with a dramatic sigh of relief.

"I did it..."

Greninja walked over to him proudly.

"Greninja. Ninja. Ja."

Victor weakly smiled. "Thanks, Sensei..."

Greninja offered his hand and pulled the boy to his feet.

"Ninja, Greninja?"

Victor blinked in shock.

_ "Wait... _ "

He started to shiver.

_ "H-He's right! Protect has a chance of failing by HALF on the second time in a row that it's used!" _

Victor fell to the ground again and curled up into a somewhat comedically traumatized ball.

"I could've died, I could've died..."

Greninja sweatdropped and felt somewhat guilty because he had forgotten about that too until after he had fired his shuriken.

* * *

** ~{Eleven Years Old}~ **

"Um, Gloria?" Victor uncomfortably spoke.

"Ye, mate?" A girl's voice cheerfully rang.

"Aren't you... a little too close?"

"Don't I have to be close to help ya?"

"I don't think this close..."

Victor was sitting on the couch of his house with Gloria sitting beside him. She had a bottle of rubbing alcohol in one hand and had a cotton swab in the other that she was currently rubbing against Victor's bruised cheek. She was on her knees beside Victor on the couch and, for some reason, seemed to be leaning her head a little too close to his face as she rubbed the cotton ball on his small wound with a smile.

"How'd ya get this bruise anyhow?"

"Er..." Victor sweatdropped when he remembered getting hit by a swift kick by the one and only Greninja. "I kind of ran into a pokemon and it got mad at me..."

Hearing that, Gloria got visibly angry and backed up a bit.

"Ah? What kind of pokemon took a crack at ya?! Did ya talk to it?"

Victor quickly thought something up. "Yeah, but I wasn't really considerate of it, so I think it made it madder."

Gloria put down the alcohol and looked pissed. "Whatcha mean you made it madder!? You look like ya just took a Giga Impact to the face!"

_ "Actually, I don't think Greninja even used a move..."  _ Victor thought but didn't say.

"Let me at the thing! I'll teach it a lesson!" She had her hands into fists and had them in front of her like a boxer.

"U-Um, don't do that... It's fine!" Victor sweatdropped while flailing his arms.

Gloria pouted. "Ye too nice Victor..."

_ "I'm pretty sure it's bad to hurt a pokemon though..." _ Victor sighed.

He took a moment to stare at some of Gloria's new changes. Her brown hair had gone down to her chin but had a long strand on it on her left side and her skin seemed to have become fairer and smoother than previous years.

Yet, she also noticeably changed personality-wise. Victor had seen her get a bit... 'aggressive' at times in both words and actions. Surprisingly, now she can throw a pretty good punch. Victor learned this when the girl told him that she knocked out a boy in one blow, a boy that was hittting on her. Victor himself actually had never been punched by her due to  _ always _ being careful with how he acted around her, unlike Hop who seemed to take a lot of her punches daily. Victor didn't even know how the boy was even able to take them and still stay conscious with a smile. Gloria always seemed to punch Hop whenever Victor wasn't that close to them. Occasionally, he heard his name mentioned from the two and whenever he turned to them, he always saw Gloria with a red, angry face and Hop grinning in a teasing manner despite a bruise on his cheek.

Speaking of Hop, that boy honestly hadn't changed too much in Victor's eyes. He was always smiling and excited to talk about pokemon or his brother Leon, who Victor  _ still _ hadn't even met. Hop's Wooloo was rather fond of Victor as much as Hop, mostly due to the pokemon actually having a human to talk to in a conversation.

"Oi! Victor!" Gloria snapped her fingers in front of his face.

Victor blinked and realized he got too deep in thought. "Ah, sorry. What was that?"

"I'm askin what ya want for dinner? I'm cookin."

Victor's face lit up with a big smile. "Curry please!"

That was another thing that had changed about Gloria. She can cook damn good food now.

Gloria smiled as she saw how excited Victor got when she mentioned she was gonna cook for him, then cheerfully walking to the kitchen with flowers around her.

Victor leaned his back on the couch and stared up at the ceiling, wondering one thing.

_ "I wonder how much longer until I can leave...?" _

* * *

** ~{Thirteen Years Old}~ **

_ "Shadow Claw!!" _

Victor leaped forward and had his hand up, to which it became coated in a dense, purple aura that extended his fingers into claws.

"Greninja!" Greninja jumped at him with his hand getting surrounded in a darker, more crimson-purple aura, which he slashed at Victor like a blade.

Both attacks clashed and created some sparks. Immediately after, both combatants leaped backward away from each other.

"Greninja!" The pokemon formed a water shuriken in each of its hands, to which he spun in place and flung both forward.

Victor dashed towards the incoming shurikens with both of his arms glowing green and forming a sharp-looking aura around them.

_ "Leaf Blade!" _

He jumped and slashed one shuriken in half as it came at him, then spinning and slicing right through the other.

Seeing him coming, Greninja opened his mouth and took deep breath, before suddenly spraying a frighteningly large volume of high-pressure water.

_ "Hydro Pump!" _ Victor recognized the move. 

As a response, Victor leaped into the air to avoid the blast of water. The green aura around his arms faded as he stuck his hands outward.

_ "Shadow Ball!" _

A black ball of energy surrounded by black electricity formed in his left hand.

_ "Aura Sphere!" _

A blue ball of energy formed on his right hand

Victor grinned,  _ "Fighting attacks can't even touch ghost, so their moves shouldn't be able to collide..." _

Victor suddenly moved the ball of blue fighting energy into the ball of ghost energy.

They combined into a violently vibrating, swirling ball of black and blue between Victor's hand with the addition of black electricity sparking.

"Shadow-!" He rapidly started spinning in the air.

He then threw the ball downward in blazing speed. "-Sphere!"

Greninja was looking up when Victor had thrown down the ball of danger, making his eyes widened.

Victor landed on his feet and watched as the ball directly slammed into Greninja, resulting in two black and blue combined explosions to occur.

But even though the attack hit, Victor knew something was off.

_ "He got hit too easily! He could've avoided it, yet I saw him standing there... So that must mean..." _

Victor's eyes widened.

_ "He used Substitute to fake me out! _

He turned around while heavily swing his fist, coursing a heap of electricity.

_ "And now he's coming from behind!" _

As he predicted, Greninja came from right behind him while swinging a water shuriken.

"Ninja!"

An impact echoed in the forest.

Victor had his electric fist stuck out forward with his back facing Greninja. Greninja also had his back facing Victor while his water shuriken deteriorated from his hand. Both looked serious as they remained in place, waiting for the damage of one of their attacks to kick in.

"Gre-!" Greninja fell to one knee in visible pain.

But then Victor fell backward to the ground with a loud thud.

"Gre... Ninja..." The pokemon stood back up while holding its side, the area that Victor had managed to land part of a blow on.

Victor, on the other hand, had the front of his shirt cut from the slash, with a visible streak across his chest that was somewhat bleeding.

"Damn... it... That really hurt... I think we went overboard." Victor grunted.

Greninja limped over to him and glanced down at the wound.

"...Greninja."

"I wonder what would've happened if I got hit by that last attack without any enhanced pokemon genes." He chuckled.

Greninja sat down beside the boy laying down and the two watched the calm river in front of them.

"Ninja?" Greninja asked him curiously

"Hm? Oh yeah, I made my own pokemon move, did you like it?" Victor grinned proudly.

"Greninja, ja?" 

"Actually, I didn't really know if that would work... Since Fighting-type attacks can't touch a ghost type but Ghost-type attacks can touch a fighting type. But by that same logic, I guessed that Aura Sphere can be shoved into Shadow Ball, but Shadow Ball can't be shoved into Aura Sphere or it'll cause the orbs to 'collide.' 

"Gre... Greninja..."

"That's not how that should work? I mean, now that I'm saying this out loud, it kind of seemed like a stupid idea... But hey! It worked out, didn't it? They didn't explode when I shoved them together!" 

Greninja facepalmed.

"I almost had you there." Victor smiled.

Greninja shook his head in disapproval. "Greninja."

"What do you mean 'not really'?! You're limping!"

"Ninja. Greninja."

"Hey, at least I'm getting stronger now..." Victor grunted as he forced himself to sit up, then looking down at himself to stare at his well-built muscles.

_ "They're not like anything too special, but they're pretty nice if I do say so myself." _

He turned to Greninja and smiled.

"Hey Sensei, am I really strong now?"

"Greninja."

"Wow, no hesitation too. Thank you." Victor grinned.

Greninja nodded.

They both remained in an awkward silence before Victor suddenly thought of something.

"Sensei... When I do leave to explore Galar, are you gonna come with me?"

"Gre."

"An immediate no!?!" Victor's eyes comedically bulged.

"Ninja. Greninja."

"My own journey...? But didn't you say you came here to watch me in the first place?"

Greninja closed his eyes.

"Greninja, ja."

"You know I'm not gonna do anything bad?" Victor repeated.

"Ja. Ninja."

A smile formed on the boy.

"I'm glad you're confident in me and all, but... What are you gonna do while I'm gone?"

"Ninja."

"Watch Mom for me?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Greninja. Ninja." 

Victor looked somewhat worried now. "Do you really think there are more bad people out there trying to find me?"

"Ja. Greninja."

"But you haven't even told me who  _ 'he' _ is yet? The white pokemon that told you to watch me?"

"Ninja."

"You said that already, but when am I gonna understand!?"

"Gren..."

Victor looked annoyed but sighed. "Fine... I'll wait. After all, I've already been waiting for nine years... I think so at least."

Greninja pat him on the back. "Greninja. Gren... Ninja."

"Hey, I'm not leaving yet. But... thanks. Now I can be a cool human Greninja." Victor smiled.

"Greninja." The pokemon scoffed.

"What do you mean!? I could so pull off the upside-down branch thing you do!"

They kept on arguing.

* * *

** ~{Galar 15 Years Of Age}~ **

A large audience roared in an arena as they waited for the main event to go underway. A skin-tanned man with trimmed facial hair wearing a gray suit with pointed red and black shoes walked around in the middle of the arena as he waved at the audience with a calm smile.

He cleared his throat before speaking.

"Welcome, one and all! Welcome to the wonderful world of pokemon!" He started to pace around. "Our beloved Galar region is a wonderful place, with thriving nature, beautiful cities, and so many pokemon with which we share our lives!"

He pulled out a pokeball.

"As you know, our society is able to thrive-" He casually tossed it forward, to which an elephant-like pokemon emerged from it. "-thanks to help from these mysterious creatures that we call pokemon!"

He waved a hand as if to present everything around him.

"Yes, pokemon are all around us-in the sea, in the sky, and even with us in our towns!"

He pulled out another pokeball.

"And those of us who choose to raise and train pokemon to do battle and compete-"

He raised both arms in the air and shouted.

"-we call pokemon trainers!"

Many people cheered.

The man suddenly realized: "Oh! But I'm getting carried away! Please allow me to introduce myself!" He stuck a hand out as if to reach out to his audience. "My name is, Rose and it is a pleasure to be here!"

He started turning in a circle with his hands out.

"Now turn your gaze to the Galar region's greatest pokemon trainer! Your undefeated champion..."

Rose stuck a fist in the air with a grin, "It's time for Champion Leon's exhibition match!"

Bursts of fog and confetti blasted up in the sky as people burst out in cheers.

Out of the fog came out a man with long, purple hair and amber eyes. He wore a black baseball cap tilted upwards, a red fur-lined cape with sponsors on the back, and wore both pants and shoes of black and white colors.

Besides him was a Charizard that breathed fire into the sky to show off.

Leon grinned before striking a pose that involved him thrusting a hand into the air while looking down dramatically with his eyes closed.

Ahead of him was a tall man with light brown skin and light blue eyes. He wore an odd outfit resembling a dragon of the sort, wearing a gold hoodie, blue shorts, and black shoes, all of which had some form of orange on them.

Next to him was a Duraludon, a somewhat shining and oddly stanced pokemon on its two feet, but was a powerful dragon/steel type.

The man wearing the dragon uniform shouted with a point at Leon.

"Exhibition or not, Leon, your pristine title is about to end... when I beat you here today!!"

Leon just chuckled and seemed to show off his cape. "You know I don't lose battles, Raihan!" He turned to his trusty partner.

"Charizard, Dynamax!"

So many people gasped in awe as they saw the Charizard get a little  _ too _ large.

"Let's do this!"

* * *

** ~{Victor's Residence- 10:40AM}~ **

"I wonder if  _ I _ can Dynamax or Gigantamax?" Victor mumbled to himself as he watched both Charizard and Duraludon Gigantimax on his new phone.

In truth, the only reason he had chosen to watch the current battle was to calm himself down. He was nervous about what was going to happen today after all. His mother knew of her son's successful training with Greninja and learned that her boy had his powers under check, so she was finally going to let him explore Postwick all the way to the small town of Wedgehurst. And maybe even past that.

But for now, he had to meet someone first.

After somehow holding it off for so long, Victor was finally going to meet Hop's older brother, Leon. The current champion of Galar.

On cue at that thought, the door opened and Hop's voice rang.

"Hello! Hello! Victor, you here!?"

Hop ran into the room with Wooloo on his side. His style of clothing hadn't changed that much compared to the past. He was wearing matching black shirt and pants, a blue-fur rimmed jacket, and purple sneakers along with a green duffle bag on his back. His amber eyes glimmered with excitement.

"Are you ready!? Are you!?"

"Geez, calm down Hop..." Victor laughed as he stood up from his couch. "I'll be over there, just let me put something else on real quick."

Wooloo waddled up to Victor and got on its two back feet while raising its arms as if trying to reach him.

"Baaaa!" It smiled.

"Hey there Wooloo." Victor pet the pokemon.

Victor's mother came into the living room with a smile, "Oh, Hop! I didn't expect to see you here so soon Shouldn't you be over at your house waiting for your brother?"

"I just came to get Victor to make sure he comes!" Hop grinned.

He turned back to Victor, "Lee always brings presents Victor! And I'm sure he'll bring you one too! He loves anyone that's a friend of mine after all!"

Hop then turned around and blasted away so fast that he left a dusty silhouette of himself behind, only an "I'll see you later!" echoed as he left.

"Baa!?" Wooloo looked shocked. "Baa! Baaaaaa!!"

"Better go catch up with him..." Victor sweatdropped.

"Baaaaa!!" Wooloo waddled out the door.

"His brother doesn't visit too much, you know? Are you excited to meet him?" His mother asked.

"I wouldn't say excited... But I am rather curious about him." Victor answered as he walked passed mother. "I should get ready."

The woman smiled, "Get changed real quick and let me bring you something." She then rushed to her room.

Victor listened and went to his room and quickly chose a set of clothes.

He put on a red shirt, dark blue jeans with some small tears in them, and brown running shoes. He pulled up his sleeves and put on the gray beanie that Hop had given him so many years ago. He slipped his phone into his pocket and then waited by the front door for his mother.

She came out of her room with a small, sad smile and holding a brown, leather suitcase/backpack in her arms.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

"This..." She reached it out for him to take it. "This was your father's."

Victor's eyes dilated in shock.

"What...?" He gazed down at it. It was rather old, but looked to be in a really good condition. 

"B-But... I thought you only carried  _ me _ out of there... How did you-?"

"It was being auctioned online... But I knew it was your father's the moment I saw it... He made it himself after all. It's one of a kind..." His mother cut him off.

Victor somewhat panicked. "But what if it was a trap!? What if they knew you would-?!"

"I didn't order it myself Victor." His mother chuckled. "Hop's mother ordered it for me when I asked her... Although I feel like I'm in a large debt no matter how much they insist that I don't have to pay them back. When the backpack came, I made sure she kept it and looked like it was using it. People did come, but seeing that it was an ordinary family, they didn't think too much of it."

"B-But that was still too risky!"

"I know but..." His mother reached a hand and rubbed his cheek. "I knew that you just had to have it." She smiled with a tear going down her eye.

Victor couldn't argue against that.

He forced a smile of his own. "Thanks mom..."

His mother wrapped her arms tightly around him and rested her head on his shoulder.

"You're welcome, sweetie..." She whispered.

They stayed this way until Victor broke the hug and put on the backpack, then turning back to her one last time.

"How do I look?"

She chuckled.

"Just like your father."

He guessed that was a compliment.

"See ya mom..." He gave her one last genuine smile before opening the door and going outside.

"Don't go too far! Be very careful!" she called after him.

"I will!"

When he left his house, the first thing he heard was a slam.

"Hm?" He glanced down to the right and saw a Wooloo rolling into a fence at the bottom of the steps down to the path. Next to the Wooloo was a very confused Hop.

He stepped over to him, "Hop, didn't you head back to your house? And what's your Wooloo doing?"

Hop turned to him in confusion, "This one's not mine! My Wooloo is right there!"

Victor glanced at the Wooloo behind hop.

"So..." Victor turned confusingly at the other. "What's this one doing?"

"Just here tackling the fence."

Victor raised an eyebrow and crouched down to the same level as the Wooloo right before it bashed the fence again.

"What are you doing little fella?"

The Wooloo stopped for a moment and turned its head to him. "Baaa!!"

"What'd it say?" Hop asked.

Victor stood up. "He says he wants to go into the forest..."

Hop chuckled, "Silly Wooloo! Stop using Tackle on that fence. Everyone knows that they're scary pokemon in that forest!"

Victor looked up in thought,  _ "I wonder if Sensei would be considered a 'scary' pokemon in there?" _

"Hey, Victor! Race ya to my place! Gloria should be there by now!"

Victor had barely turned to him before he had bolted off again.

"Baaa!?" Hop's Wooloo cried from being left behind again. It tucked its arms and legs into a ball before suddenly rolling down the hill to catch up.

_ "So kawaii..."  _ Victor thought with a close-eyed smile and a flowery aroma surrounding him.

It didn't bother running off after Hop. He knew he'd win because of his enhanced speed from the Slaking DNA, which was surprisingly somewhat fast, and the training he received from Greninja. He didn't want Hop asking him how could he move so fast.

He took the time to appreciate walking down the path without worrying about being seen too much. Today was the day he was actually going to talk to people after all. Unless his social anxiety from being limited outside caught up to him.

He glanced at the herds of Wooloo cheerfully prancing around and could already see Hop's obnoxiously large house compared to his, even included was a small battlefield for pokemon battles.

_ "I want a big house like this someday..." _ He thought as he reached Hop's doorstep.

He opened the door without knocking and went in.

Hop's mother saw him from the kitchen.

"Oh! Victor! It's finally good to see you roam around on your own."

"For now at least." He laughed.

"Mum! Where's Lee?" Hop came running down the stairs with Gloria following from behind.

"Hop! I've been trying to tell ya that your mum said Leon was just arriving at the station!" Gloria said annoyingly.

Victor's eyes widened when he saw the girl. She wore a gray-hoodie over a magenta button-up dress, tartan green socks, and brown boots. On her back was a brown backpack and, on her head, she donned the same dark green and white Scottish bonnet that she had been wearing for years. Compared to the previous t-shirts and skirts she had worn before, this new look was rather... unfamiliar to Victor, and therefore looked 'off' to him.

But he didn't let that bother him as he smiled and wave. "Hey Gloria, so you're here already."

When the girl saw him, her face somewhat lit up and she comedically threw Hop out of the way, sending him back upstairs with a crash.

"Baaa!?" Hop's Wooloo was shocked.

Gloria rushed down the stairs and got to Victor.

"Oi! Victor! You're finally walking around without ya mum holding your hand? Who's a big boy now?" She teased as she reached up and pat his head.

"Haha, very funny... Um, is Hop okay?" Victor asked as he glanced passed her and up the stairs.

Gloria didn't even look back, she just kept smiling and patting his head.

"He's fine!"

Hop's mother chuckled, "Gloria dearie, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't throw my son."

Gloria flinched and turned to her with a light blush, "Er, sorry about that."

Hop then came down the stairs with a comedic red bump on his forehead, yet still smiling like nothing happened.

"Gloria, you said that Lee was already at the station, right!? Then let's go! You know that Lee's hopeless with directions! We gotta make sure he won't get lost!"

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Lost? But don't you just have to go straight down the path? There's no way he could get los-"

"You'd be surprised." Both Gloria and Hop cut him off with deadpanned expressions.

Victor sweatdropped.

"Let's go! Victor! This'll be the first time you meet Lee! You don't wanna miss the chance to meet the undefeated champion!"

"I'll start preparing a barbecue for when you guys come back." Hop's mother smiled.

"Let's-a-go!" Hop jumped before running out of his own house.

Victor blinked, "Why did he seem to change his accent when he shouted like that?"

Gloria rolled her eyes, "Who knows at this point? Let's just get going before he does something stupid again?"

Both rushed out of the house and started to jog on the five-minute path over towards Wedgehurst.

They could see a crowd by the station as they passed through Route 1.

"You know, I think I know where he is."

"Wow, ain't ya a great detective?" Gloria rolled her eyes.

They met up with Hop and watched as the champion of Galar appeased the crowd.

Leon was grinning as his Charizard proudly stood beside him. You see him radiant an aura of power just by standing in front of everyone. He dramatically stuck his arm up while his head pointed diagonally down with his eyes closed.

The small crowd of people cheered as they recognized this pose.

"His signature Charizard pose!" Hop squealed excitingly.

"You've seen him do that a million times Hop!" Gloria snapped at him.

Leon then stood back up straight, waving his cape as he did so.

"Hello, hello! Wedgehurst! Your champion, Leon, has returned!" He crossed his arms as if trying to look cooler. "I promise I'll keep doing my best to deliver the greatest battles for you all to watch!"

As the crowd cheered on and Leon continued to hype them up, Victor stared over at the Charizard standing near him, who seemed to have been somewhat forgotten at the moment. Victor crept around the crowd and managed to make his way to Charizard.

The pokemon noticed him and turned rather curiously as Victor came up to him with a berry.

"Hey there big guy. How's fighting for Leon?"

The Charizard made a few grunts as Victor fed him the berry.

Victor's eye twitched, "He forgets to feed you guys sometimes?"

Charizard looked shocked that he understood.

"Isn't that terrible!? Is he starving you guys?!" Victor worried.

"Graawrr!" Charizard corrected quickly.

"Oh." Victor deadpanned, then glancing over at a grinning Leon.

"He's just an idiot?"

Charizard sweatdropped with a nod.

"Noted."

Hop jumped from the back of the crowd. "Lee!"

Leon froze for a moment as he recognized that voice, then grinning when he caught sight of purple hair in the back.

"Hop!" he gleamed as the crowd made room for him to go through. He saw his little brother and both walked up to each other.

"So, my number one fan in all the world has come out of his way to pick me up!" He rustled through the boy's hair.

"Cut that out!" Hop laughed.

Leon then took the time to appreciate how his brother looked. "Look at you Hop! I reckon you grew an inch and a quarter since the last time I saw you!"

"Heya Lee!" Gloria also referred to Leon by the nickname Hop had given him.

Leon turned to her, "Oh! Gloria! It's been a while since I've last seen ya! You've grown a tad prettier and even changed your clothes!"

Gloria smirked rather satisfied, "I guess those are the sharp eyes of the champion."

Leon glanced around the crowd. "Hey Hop, ya told me that I'd meet a special friend of yours today. Is he here?"

"Yeah! Victor is right-!" Hop and Gloria turned around to show him the boy, but he wasn't standing behind them like before. "Hey, where'd he go?!"

Leon curiously glanced around to see if he could catch someone that had the potential of being as 'interesting' as Hop had always made him out to be, which was when he saw a boy sitting beside his Charizard by the station entrance.

Leon grinned, "Well would ya look at that..."

Hop and Gloria stared passed him to see Victor petting Charizard while two seemed to be conversing.

"I've never seen anyone get that close to Charizard immediately. He only gets along with people who can understand him."

Hop and Gloria awkwardly stared at each other.

_ "In this case, Victor can LITERALLY understand Charizard..." _ Both thought in unison.

Leon marched over to him with a wave.

"You must be Victor! I heard loads about you from my little brother!"

Victor glanced up at the champion, to which Charizard walked back to his partner's side.

"Um... yeah." Victor stood up nervously and adjusted his gray beanie, to which Leon was shocked to see.

"Wait a minute..." He turned back to Hop with a smile. "So  _ this _ is where the beanie I gave you went."

Hop looked embarrassed, "Er, yeah. Sorry, Lee! It was my favorite, but I just thought... Well, I-!"

Lee rustled his hair, "No sweat Hop! If you gave him your beanie, then it shows he must be quite a great person!"

_ "I never knew this beanie was Leon's..." _ Victor thought in surprise.

"Let's head back to my mum! Then I could learn a little more about Victor!" Leon beamed with a smile.

"Race you there!!" Hop suddenly bolted down the path.

"Hop!? Stop making everything into a competition ya dunce!" Gloria shouted as she ran after him.

Leon turned to the crowd of people, "Well everyone! I bid you farewell today! But don't you fret... I'll always be around to make sure everyone in Galar can have a champion time!"

The crowd cheered as Leon turned and bolted over the bridge after the two kids.

Victor just kind of awkwardly stood next to Charizard.

"They sure get excited..."

Charizard puffed smoke out of its nostrils as if having chuckled.

"I suppose we should get going too."

Right as Victor took a step forward, he felt his feet get raised off the ground.

"Eh?"

He glanced up at a grinning Charizard.

"Hey! Wait a-WHOA!!"

Charizard flapped its wings as he as he could and soared towards Hop's house, carrying a screaming Victor.

* * *

Gloria and Hop had deadpanned expressions as Charizard placed down a comedically black and white Victor to the ground, his soul visibly leaving his body.

"I... thought I was gonna die... Wh-Why did we go so high?" Victor forced out.

Leon started laughing, "That means he likes you! The higher he flies you up, the more he likes you!"

Victor robotically turned his head to Charizard, who just smiled and let out a growl of agreement.

"G-Good to know..."

"He even threw you in the air too... I remember when he did that to me." Hop awkwardly laughed with a sympathetic look.

"Don't remind me..." Gloria shivered as she recalled  _ her _ experience.

Hop's mother came out from the front door.

"Ah, Leon. It's so nice to see you again dear."

"Hi Mum!" Leon wrapped her arms around the woman and lifted her up in a big hug. "It's great to see you too!"

Victor shakily got back to his feet with the help of Gloria holding his arm.

"Dinner will be ready in a while. So you four do something in the meantime." Hop's mother let them know before going back into the house.

"OOO!!" Hop rushed close to Leon. "Lee! You promised us presents! So out with it!"

Gloria knocked him on the back of the head, "That's rude Hop!"

"It's all right Gloria. I think now's a good time to give all of you your presents!" Leon reassured her.

"All of us?" Victor questioned as if he didn't hear that right.

"That's right! You'll all be getting the greatest gifts from the greatest champion!"

He reached somewhere behind him and brought out three red pokeballs.

"It's showtime everyone!" As he yelled this, he tossed all three pokeballs into the air, where each one burst open to reveal a different pokemon.

"Take a good look you three!" Leon told them as three different pokemon landed on the ground.

The green, monkey grass-type pokemon Grookey immediately jumped to a tree and climbed it. The water-type blue lizard, Sobble, dived into the water. And the fire type orange and white rabbit Scorbunny started sprinting around the small pokemon battlefield.

Victor was surprised that they would be getting pokemon as 'gifts'. 

He watched as Sobble spit water from his mouth, but accidentally splashed it onto the Scorbunny, who panicked and started jumping around until it jumped too high and hit its head on the branch Grookey was on, to  _ which _ then caused a berry to fall in the pond and startle Sobble out of it.

To which the water pokemon started to, well... sob.

_ "At least I know why his name is Sobble..." _ Victor smiled.

Both other pokemon saw the distress of their companion and rushed to his side, calming him down and prompting Sobble to form a smile.

"All right! Line up everyone!" Leon called as he saw them calm down.

All three pokemon jumped forward and stood in a proud line.

"Which one will each of you choose?" Leon asked them.

Hop turned to Gloria and Victor. "You guys can choose first! I've already got Wooloo after all. I'd be happy with any of these guys." he smiled.

"Let Victor go first. He's been cooped up at his mums so long that I think he deserves this at least." Gloria smiled.

"Alright! What'll it be Victor?" Leon asked the boy.

Victor actually wasn't smiling in excitement like the others were, for a certain thought came into mind.

He stepped forward and crouched down to get better looks at all three pokemon.

He saw Scorbunny's outgoing and jumpy personality, Sobble's timid but caring looks, and Grookey's cheerful yet determined stance.

Victor formed a small smile as he got back to his feet.

_ "To choose, huh?" _

He glanced from his two friends to the three pokemon.

"..."

He turned to Leon, the champion seeing the look in Victor's eyes.

"Looks like you made your choice." He said as he adjusted his cap.

Victor nodded.

"So, then who'll it be?"

Victor gave them all a close-eyed smile.

"I'm not choosing anyone."


	4. New Encounters With New Partners

Everyone but Victor turned black and white with shadows over their eyes with the addition of a Pikachu's comedically timed Thunderbold striking in the distance.

"EHH?!?" Gloria grabbed Victor by the collar of his shirt, pulled him up, and frantically started shaking him back and forth. "What the hell ya mean that ya won't choose any of them!?"

"Urk! Gworia... Lwet gwo p*sputter*ease!" Victor choked with swirling eyes.

Even Leon seemed somewhat shocked at the sudden claim from the boy. He raised his cap and an eyebrow with a rather curious gaze, even no longer smiling.

"Are you just saying that you wanna let Hop and Gloria choose first? Or are you saying that you don't want a pokemon at all?" The champion asked him.

Gloria dropped Victor to let him speak, and the boy took a moment to catch his breath. 

"N-No... I'm saying that I'm not gonna  _ choose _ a pokemon and  _ make _ it stay with me."

"Hm?" They all blinked.

The three starter pokemon cutely titled their heads to the side as they wondered what he meant.

Victor adjusted his beanie and put on an awkward smile. "I mean... I'd feel bad if I basically chose a pokemon's future without even knowing how they felt about it first."

Invisible punches seemed to strike the three other humans in the gut.

"Victor... Now you're making me feel terrible for having Lee catch Wooloo for me when I was little!!" Hop said with a panicked face and comedic tears going down his eyes.

"Baaaaaaa!" Wooloo tried to let Hop know that it had already wanted to be with him even before the boy had asked Lee to catch him.

"Don't worry Hop, Wooloo wanted to be with you." Victor reassured him.

"Baaaaa!!" Wooloo nodded happily.

Hop had comedic tears as he picked up the ball of fluff and hugged him tightly. "Wooloo! I love yooooooou!!!"

Wooloo sweatdropped as it used a small hoove to pat Hop.

Gloria looked down, somewhat ashamed, "Geez Victor... Why'd have to say that? Now I feel like crap... I don't think I can just choose one now."

Leon awkwardly chuckled, "I understand what you're saying Victor, but don't worry. These pokemon have all come willingly just so they could find a trainer that they could travel Galar with." He turned to the starters. "Ain't that right little guys?"

All three pokemon let out cheerful cries of approval.

"Oh? Really?" Victor smiled as he learned this. "I'd still feel weird for choosing a pokemon. So..." Victor sat down on the ground in a cross-legged manner while facing the pokemon. 

"Any of you guys wanna  _ choose _ me?"

The pokemon were somewhat off caught guard from the thought of being able to decide who travels along with this person. All three of them turned to each other awkwardly before huddling up and whispering.

Hop, Gloria, and Leon all had somewhat blank faces. 

_ "Well, I didn't see this coming..." _ They all thought in unison.

After nearly a minute of the pokemon speaking amongst themselves, they all turned back with a decision.

Then one of them stepped forward to answer Victor's question.

"Scor!"

Victor grinned as Scorbunny pranced over to him and then got into a proud stance with his little paws on his hips and a big smile.

Victor happily reached over and gently rubbed the rabbit pokemon on his head.

"I'll be counting on you."

"Scorbunny!" The pokemon cooed as his head was gently felt upon.

Victor examined the pokemon's appearance. "I think calling you Scorbunny is a bit plain. Do you want a name, little fella?"

Hearing this, Scorbunny backed up and excitedly jumped up and down. "Scor, bun!"

"Alrighty then." Victor chuckled. He put a hand on his chin and put on a thinking face as he thought about what kind of name he could give for his new lifelong companion.

_ "A name that isn't his final evolution, Cinderace, but relates to it and sounds cool for the future..." _

A smile returned on his face. "How about... Ace?"

The Scorbunny cheerfully jumped into Victor's arms, "Scor! Scor!" He said as he nuzzled his cheek against his new partner.

Victor laughed and hugged his pokemon as he felt the softness of his cheek, "Ace it is then!"

Gloria had a blank expression on her face despite the small blush on her cheeks. She pulled out her phone and secretly took a picture of the sight.

Meanwhile, Hop got excited as he saw Grookey head over to him and playfully whack his shoe with his stick.

"Grookey! Grook!" The chimp pokemon called to him.

"You wanna be my partner!?" Hop basically squealed as he reached down and picked up the pokemon from the ground. "I'm aiming to be the next champion, so be ready! You and I will be doing some serious training!"

The chimp happily nodded, and Wooloo cheered next to both of them.

The last starter, Sobble, shyly waddled over to Gloria, who got on her knees to meet him with a smile. She didn't seem fazed that she was left with the last pokemon. If anything, she looked glad to have received Sobble.

"Hey, little fella. You wanna be my pokemon?"

"Sob! Sobble!" The pokemon cried out with a smile.

"He said yes." Victor clarified as his own Scorbunny seemed to have wrapped itself above his head.

"I think I can tell." Gloria chuckled as she reached out a hand to him.

Sobble waddled over and rubbed his face against her hand while cooing.

"So cute..." Gloria mumbled as she gently stroked his face.

Hop then rushed over to Victor while holding Grookey in his arms.

"Oi! Victor! Help me come up with a name for Grookey! You make up cool names!" 

Grookey curiously looked up at Hop and then Victor, smiling at the thought of getting a new name.

"I think it'd be more meaningful to him if you named him," Victor suggested.

Hop put on a thinking face of his own as he scratched his head with one eye closed as he thought of a name.

The boy then snapped his fingers with stars in his eyes as he came up with one. 

"How about Funky Kon-!?"

"Don't name ye pokemon off one of them stupid games of yours!!" Gloria shouted as she punched Hop's head out of nowhere.

"Ack!" Hop comedically fell on his back with Grookey landing on him.

"Grook!?" Grookey cried out in shock to see his partner punched.

Sobble had also turned black and white at his trainer's demonstration of power.

But despite being knocked to the ground face-first, Hop immediately got up with an even more inspired expression.

"Ooo! How about Conga!?" He asked as if nothing had happened despite the red bump on his head.

"Better. I guess." Gloria didn't look too impressed.

Grookey cheered at the name.

"Alrighty then! I'll call ya, Conga!" Hop happily declared.

The newly named Conga jumped and did a flip as a celebration. "Grook! Grookey!"

"What about you, Gloria? You gonna give your Sobble a name?" Leon asked curiously after having seen the other two give names.

Gloria stared curiously into her Sobble's eyes as her pokemon stared back patiently.

She then hugged him while giving a sweet, closed-eyed smile.

"I'm gonna name him... Bubbles."

_ "So cute..." _ Victor thought as he saw an aroma of flowers appear around Gloria as she rubbed her pokemon's head.

Leon grinned at the sight of all of them.

"You've already gotten closer to your pokemon than any normal trainer would. You're all going to be powerful trainers, I can already tell!"

"All right! Enough with all this trainer nonsense for one night!" A new voice called.

Everyone turned and saw both Hop's and Victor's mothers coming towards them.

"Dinner's ready children. Bring along your pokemon to eat." Victor's mother smiled.

"Mom? You came?" Victor asked in surprise.

"Yup! Hop's mother invited me after all. But look at you with your first pokemon!" The woman smiled.

Ace took a sniff in the air and started drooling as he picked up the scent of kebabs cooking on the grill.

Victor chuckled, "Let's eat little fella. Then I can get to know you better."

The sun was starting to set on the horizon as everyone started eating. Gloria fed Bubbles little chunks of meat, while Hop and Conga started shoving their faces with food, much to his mother's dismay.

He did choke for a moment though, resulting in Gloria slapping him hard on his back while Victor sweatdropped.

Victor didn't eat too much. He sat on his chair quietly as he fed Ace in his lap. He casually talked with his pokemon in a low tone so that the others wouldn't hear and started to learn more about his personality.

Everyone was engrossed by the meal and their pokemon, that they didn't notice a pair of eyes staring at them from afar.

* * *

** ~{That Very Night-9:37PM}~ **

Ace's head glanced all over the foggy forest with a mixture of fear and curiosity as Victor carried the rabbit in his arms.

"Don't be nervous now. I've been in here hundreds of times. I just want you to meet someone." Victor reassured him.

Ace stared in wonder at the tall trees and thick fog that made up the Slumbering Weald.

"Scor, scor!" He cheerfully purred.

"Yeah, it's always foggy here." Victor answered him. 

Surprisingly, telling Scorbunny was rather easy during dinner. He just casually mentioned it to him and his partner seemed to get more excited about traveling with him. They even had a long conversation about what they wanted to do in Galar.

_ "I still have to talk to my mom about her letting me travel even farther..."  _ Victor thought with a hint of worry as he recalled everything he wanted to do with his pokemon.

But putting aside his worries for the moment, Victor arrived in a familiar open area where a pokemon stood beside a riverbank in a professional stance.

"Sensei!" Victor waved at him.

Hearing him say 'Sensei,' Ace curiously stared up at his partner, then back at the Greninja ahead.

The ninja turned to Victor and his eyes somewhat lit up in curiosity as he saw the Scorbunny in his student's arms.

"Ninja?" The pokemon walked forward and leaned forward to get a better look at the fire-type.

"Um, yeah..." Victor awkwardly laughed. "I got a pokemon. Sensei, meet Ace. Ace, meet Sensei."

Ace hopped out of Victor's arms and started circling Greninja with stars in his eyes by how amazing he thought the pokemon looked.

"Bun!" He raised a little paw up with a bright smile.

Greninja crouched down and shook the small paw between his two fingers. 

"Gren, Gerninja." He chuckled.

"Eh, he's a lot like me? But you just met him!?" Victor pointed out.

Greninja stood up straight and turned back to Victor. 

"Ninja, Greninja?"

Hearing that question, Victor smiled.

"Yeah, I do have his pokeball but..." He proudly put his hands on his hips. "I think it's better to have him out with me! I don't want him to feel like he's only important for fighting."

Ace happily bounced up and down at his partner's statement. "Scor! Bun! Bun!"

"You're welcome, Ace. I don't want you to feel like just a fighter, I want you to  _ know _ that you're my friend."

Ace embarrassingly rubbed the back of his head with a smile. He then proceeded to explore the small, open area. But his gaze turned to a curious look as he noticed the terrain show many signs of previous battles taking place, such as small craters in the ground, cut down trees, and broken rocks.

"Scorbun?" Ace pointed curiously at the sight while turning his head back to Victor.

Victor chuckled, "Oh yeah. You could say that 'pokemon' have fought here before..." He walked over to his pokemon. "Which actually brings me to the reason that I brought you here. I wanna tell you a secret, Ace."

Ace curiously tilted his head.

"You see Ace, I-" He was interrupted as they heard the sound of three water shurikens slicing through the air towards him.

Victory turned around and his eyes widened. 

"WAH!!" He instinctively formed Leaf Blades around his arms and sliced each shuriken coming in half with three consecutive strikes.

Each slice shuriken immediately dispersed in the air and vanished.

"Eh!?" Ace was stunned as he saw what his partner just did.

Victor formed cross-veins of irritation and turned to face his Sensei in the distance, green aura-like blades still around his hands.

"What was that for!?" He shouted.

Greninja just chuckled, knowing that his student would react fast enough.

Ace kept his gaze on Victor with a look of awe.

Victor Leaf Blades faded away as he turned back to Ace and saw the look in his pokemon's wide eyes.

He awkwardly rubbing the back of his head with a smile.

"Um, yeah... So that's the secret. I can use pokemon powers."

"Bun! Bun! Bun!" Ace excitedly bounced around Victor after discovering such a secret.

"Hehe, yeah. I'm stronger than a normal person and can also talk to pokemon." Victor chuckled as he watched his pokemon jump all over the place. At one point, he reached his hands out and caught Ace in them, then staring at him with a more serious look.

"But it's a secret outside of here. I'm sure nearly all the pokemon in this forest know about it because I trained here. But humans don't know. So I need you to keep it a secret too just in case you're somehow able to communicate with a person."

Ace tilted his head to the side, "Scor?"

"What bout pokemon? Well... I'm not really too worried." Victor smiled.

Ace then nodded up and down happily. "Scor! Scor!

Victor's smile returned. "Thanks, little buddy."

Ace then tilted his head once more with another questioning face, "Scor? Scorbunny?"

"Yeah. Sensei taught me how to use my powers when I was little. Well first, he made sure I was actually able to use them."

"Bun? Scor, bun?"

"Why I wanted to get stronger?" Victor asked with a puzzled look.

Ace nodded.

Victor smiled, "So I can leave and help anyone who needs help... You see Ace, until recently, all I could ever go to was this forest, with a few occasional exceptions. My mom worried about me not being able to control my powers, so she made sure I never went too far anywhere... But she said she'd let me leave home to explore Galar if I showed that I was strong enough to control my powers. Neither of us wanted me to accidentally hurt anyone after all."

Ace's nose twitched as he listened on in wonder.

"But the main reason I want to leave and explore Galar... is so I can help people and pokemon alike. I want to meet so many new people and pokemon. I want to talk to them, get to know them, and help them out if they need it. I want to always be around to help..." Victor sweetly smiled.

"Greninja!" His Sensei called out in a rather earnest tone.

"Eh?" Victor turned to him and raise an eyebrow as Greninja stood in front of him and Ace.

"Ninja. Gre, gren. Ninja, ja." Greninja declared as he pointed at Victor.

Victor's eyes widened.

"Become... The champion?" 

He was shocked to hear this suggestion from his Sensei out of anyone else.

"Ninja... Greninja. Gren. Greninja."

"You think becoming champion would let me help everyone?" Victor blinked.

Greninja held his hand in front of him and put his fingers together in a fist as he declared, "Greninja! Ninja, greninja! Gren, ninja!"

"..." Victor gazed down in serious thought as he reflected on what his Sensei just said.

_ "Becoming champion... would prove to myself that I can help anyone? That my pokemon and I can save and beat anyone? Not just that, but the influence and power of being a champion can help inspire more help and care for pokemon..." _

Victor smiled and glanced back up at his master, "You're right! Becoming the champion seems to be the best thing for me!"

Greninja nodded proudly.

Victor then looked down at his pokemon. "Would you like to get stronger with me, Ace? So that we can become the champion and protect everyone we wish?"

Ace just reached out his paw and booped Victor on the nose with a cheerful cry.

"Scor!"

Victor laughed and hugged him. "Thanks, little fella. We've got a long road ahead of us. So for now..."

He held him comfortably in his arms.

"Tell us more about yourself."

Ace comfortably rested in his trainer's arms as Victor and Greninja listened earnestly.

* * *

** ~{Hop's Residence-10:01PM}~ **

Hop's TV was on as he pointed at it with Conga and Wooloo watching. On the screen showed Leon's Gigantamax Charizard fighting against Raihan's Gigantamax Duraludon.

"You see him right there!? That's my brother, the champion of Galar! He brought you to me just so we can beat him in the future!"

Conga just nodded while sticking his stick in his two leaf hair tuffs.

"Leon wants us to get strong enough to fight him, and I want to get strong enough to  _ beat  _ him! So we're gonna have to do whatever we can to get stronger! To be the best there ever was!" Hop proudly declared.

"Baaaaa!" Wooloo cheered with a jump on the bed in agreeance to the claim.

Conga gave a somewhat curious gaze as Hop formed a very determined expression as he stared at the television screen.

"I looked up to Lee my entire life. I want to be just like him... I wanna make him and everyone else proud, I want to show everyone that I can live up to his name. But to be like him, I have to beat him. That means beating Victor, Gloria, and anyone else I come across." 

He turned his head directly to Conga, "Are you ready to get stronger with us? To grow until we become the strongest champions of Galar?"

"Grook!" Conga cheered as he felt Hop's resolve and raised his stick.

Hop grinned, "I'll hold ya to that!" He moved his fist gently down to Conga.

"Grookey!" Conga jumped up and fist-bumped Hop.

"Thanks, little buddy." Hop grinned.

"Hop dearie! Go to sleep!" His mother suddenly called to him from below.

Hop flinched and stood up straight, "Y-Yes mom!"

* * *

** ~{Gloria Residence-10:23PM}~ **

Gloria sat cross-legged manner on her bed while Sobble sat across and curiously gazed up at his partner.

She hummed as she gently brushed her hair while in her Clefairy pajamas, then glancing down at her new pokemon cheerfully. "Hey, Bubbles... Do you wanna get stronger?"

The pokemon immediately nodded its head up and down.

Gloria put her brush down on the side. "I do too... But do you know  _ why _ I want to get stronger?"

Bubbles tilted his head confusingly to the side with a question mark forming over it.

Gloria reached over at her nightstand and grabbed the knob of the drawer before pulling it open, then reaching inside and taking out a photograph of her and Victor when they about six years old. 

She took a moment to examine to contents of the photograph. Both she and Victor were inside the windmill they had gone to before, but the girl was holding a surprised Victor with one arm and had used the other to reach up and take a selfie of both of them on her phone. Gloria had a large smile on her face as Victor had a nervous and slightly blushing expression. Behind the two was the window of the windmill that showed a beautiful sunset outside.

She placed the picture down on the bed and gently pushed it over to Bubbles.

"I wanna get stronger... for him."

Bubbles waddled over and stared at the picture rather curiously. He noticed just how happy Gloria looked in it and could see the current cheerfulness that girl had on her face as she remembered the past.

"Sob? Sob?"

Gloria had a small blush on her face as she stared dreamily down at the picture.

"I wanna become champion so that it'll give me the courage to ask him a... very important question. If I become the champion of the Galar region, then I think that it'll impress him enough... to guarantee that he'll say yes too."

Bubbles didn't seem to understand, "Ble. Sobble?"

Gloria rubbed the fin on the top of Bubble's head, "But don't tell Victor this. He can actually talk to pokemon, so I don't need you suddenly say this stuff."

Hearing that Victor can talk to pokemon surprised Bubbles, but he cheerfully gave Gloria a close-eyed smile.

"Sob!"

Gloria could tell she could trust Bubbles, so she happily smiled and picked him up in her arms, then hugging her pokemon tightly.

"Let's get stronger together, Bubbles. I hope you bear with me, I hope you'll help me meet a lot of other cute pokemon, and I hope you help me win until the very end..."

"Sob!!" Bubbles nuzzled his cheek against hers.

* * *

** ~{The Next Morning: Outside Hop's Residence- 9:03AM}~ **

"Why did we have to meet here at nine in the morning?" Victor yawned as he rested at the outdoor table of Hop's house with Ace sitting on his shoulder.

"Champions always wake up early!" Leon grinned.

"But we're not champions yet..." Hop whined as Conga comedically bonked his partner's head to wake him up.

"Ya won't be with that attitude." Gloria remarked as Bubbles swam cheerfully in the tiny pond nearby.

Leon clapped his hands together to get their attention.

"So, how was your first night with your pokemon? Did you get along with them alright? Do you guys somewhat understand each other better?"

"Yeah, we did! Watch this!" Hop exclaimed immediately.

They all watched as Hop turned to his Grookey. "Ready, Conga?"

"Grookey!" The pokemon jumped in place.

Both stood beside each other before closing their eyes, turning their gaze to the ground, and dramatically shooting their arms in the air to mimic Leon's Charizard pose. Although, Conga stuck his little stick upward.

"You taught him the Charizard pose?" Victor asked, somewhat surprised by this.

Hop and Conga got out of their pose and smiled, "You bet I did!"

Leon applauded him with a laugh, "You're getting close to him already!" He then turned to Gloria and Victor. "What about you two?"

Victor got up from the table with a smile, "We trust each other completely." He answered as Ace nodded in agreement.

"Bubbles trusts me too. And he really loves his name! Don't ya, little Bubbles? Who is a good Bubbles?" Gloria cooed as she and Bubbles nuzzled their cheeks against each other.

"Then listen up new trainers!" Leon shouted, "Believe in yourself and your pokemon! If you trust each other and always battle side by side, then you can overcome anything!"

"I know." Victor said without showing any signs of being arrogant behind his innocent smile.

"Of course you do!" Leon laughed. "But who knows? If you focus more on strengthening your bond, then maybe someday you can even become strong enough to challenge me!"

"Hey, Lee! Why are you telling that to just him!? I'm gonna be the one to challenge you!" Hop pouted.

"Calm down now, Hop, I meant that for all of you." Leon tried to reassure him.

Hop just seemed to ignore him as he turned to Victor with a new fiery gaze, "But if you really think that Victor is going to be able to challenge you, then I guess he's my first rival!"

_ "Oh, boy..." _ Victor sweatdropped.

"Then I guess that makes him mine too." Gloria turned to Victor with a somewhat serious stare.

_ "Why you too!?" _

"I'm not planning to lose and miss my chance to beat the unbeatable champion! Just having a pokemon doesn't make you a real trainer, you know?" Hop proudly declared.

"Well  _ yeah _ , I do know. I studied all this for nearly my entire life." Victor deadpanned as he brought up his mom's teachings.

"Oh yeah." Hop said with a look of realization.

"And do  _ you _ think you're already worthy of being called a real trainer, Hop?" Leon grinned expectantly. "Then, let's see how you can handle yourself in your first ever pokemon battle!"

"But Lee... There are three of us." Gloria pointed out.

"..." The champion actually looked surprised. "Oh yeah. That's right..." he put a hand on his chin and thought about it for a moment. He then snapped his fingers and grinned. "How about I join in then-?"

"NO!" All three teens snapped at the champion, making him wince and back up with an awkward chuckle.

"A-Alright then... How about a free for all?" He suggested next.

"My first battle as a three-person free for all... That's sounds exciting!" Hop grinned.

Leon regained his composure and adjusted his cap now that there seemed to be a choice.

"Great! We'll do that then! But Hop, you'll use only one pokemon, since I know you have Wooloo too!" Leon declared.

"Alright, I'll let Conga fight!" Hop grinned as his Grookey hopped off his shoulder and onto the small battlefield.

_ "It's rock, paper, scissors..." _ Victor thought as he stared at the three different typed starters gathering up.

But then he realized something.

"Ace, hold on. Come here for a second."

Ace listened and walked over in wonder at what he wanted, to which Victor crouched down and whispered:

"Do you know Ember?"

Ace blinked before shaking his head side to side.

Victor put a hand on his own chin with a contemplating expression.

"I see... Then you only know Growl and Tackle. But Ember is the easiest move for you to learn. So..."

He smiled and rubbed Ace's head.

"You should be able to learn it during this fight. Be ready to use it when you do."

"Scor!" Ace saluted to him before turning back cheerfully.

Soon all three pokemon were on the small battle arena with their trainers standing a few feet behind them.

"I've watched every match that Lee's ever had! I've read every book and magazine he left behind at home, too! I know exactly what to do to win!" Hop declared proudly with his hands on his hips.

"Did any of that information specifically cover a three-person free for all battle?" Victor asked with an eyebrow raised.

"..." Hop blinked with a new look of realization. 

"Eh... Not really."

They all sweatdropped.

Ace hopped from foot to foot in excitement, Conga gently smacked his stick into his hand, and Bubbles looked left to right rather nervously at both opponents.

"Start!" Leon shouted with a chop of his hand.

"Tackle!" All three shouted.

Ace jumped forward with his foot sticking out.

Bubbles leaped ahead with his head.

And Conga jumped while swinging his stick.

All three pokemon collided in the middle of the arena, and their impacts comedically sent them back rolling to the ground.

Leon covered his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

_ "I should've seen this coming..." _ Victor sighed.

Hop was the first to call out to his fallen pokemon. "Conga! Head for Ace with Tackle!"

Conga jumped to his feet and dashed towards Ace with his sticky ready.

"Roll to the right!" Victor instructed.

Still, on his back, Ace listened and rolled his body to the side, avoiding Conga as he passed.

"Bubbles! Use Growl while Conga is stopping!"

Bubbles put on an adorably angry face and opened its mouth. "Sob!!" he shouted as the air somewhat visibly distorted and passed through Conga as he turned around.

Conga looked shocked and shook at the Growl, feeling his attack lowered.

_ "Gloria knows that Hop's Grookey is more dangerous to her Sobble because of the type advantage, so chose to lower his offense first..." _

"We're not out yet! Conga! Use Tackle at Ace again!" Hop instructed.

"Grookey!" Conga one again started charging at Ace.

_ "Hop's doing the opposite strategy of what Gloria is going for... Instead of just weakening the more threatening type, Hop is straight-up trying to get rid of it." _

"Ace! Ignore Conga and start heading for Bubbles!" Victor pointed.

Ace listened as he got to his feet and started running towards Bubbles with Conga chasing him from behind.

"Bubbles! Use Tackle!" Gloria shouted as she saw him approaching.

"Sob!" Bubbles closed his eyes rushed forward towards Ace too.

Seeing this, Victor waited as both neared and snapped his fingers. "Ace! Jump now!"

"Scor!" Ace smiled before leaping upward out from between both incoming pokemon.

With him out of the way and the other pokemon originally running at him, both Bubbles and Conga's Tackles ended up colliding with one another, resulting in both pokemon falling back in wincing pain.

Leon grinned,  _ "Victor noticed Hop's aggressive strategy and Gloria's reactive one... He's a smart kid." _

When Ace landed, he jumped with a small cheer.

"Bubbles! Retreat back!" Gloria told him.

Still rubbing his hurting head, Bubbles jumped back to Gloria as Conga also got up somewhat dizzy.

Victor then saw Ace's hands spark some small flames, to which the pokemon happily smiled and rubbed them together in his hands. He turned back to his trainer with stars in his eyes as he learned a new move.

_ "He learned Ember already? Nice!" _ Victor grinned.

However, then he noticed Gloria's Sobble start spitting water from his mouth, and the Grookey's stick seem to grow bigger.

_ "Water Gun and Branch Poke... Of course, they would learn them now..." _ Victor sighed.  _ "Even though Conga has less attack, I really have to worry about that Water Gun." _

"Alrighty, Bubbles! Blast Ace with your new Water Gun!" Gloria shouted.

"Sob- _ ble!"  _ At the second syllable, Bubbles sprayed out a fast stream of water from its mouth at Ace.

"To the side!" Victor reacted.

Ace jumped to the side and the water just grazed his foot, slightly scaring the pokemon as he landed and shook the few drops off his foot.

"Conga! Branch Poke at Bubbles!" Hop shouted with a grin, realizing that Conga had learned the grass-type move.

"Grookey!" The chimp jumped up and stuck his branch forward, managing to jab Sobble on its big head.

"Sob!" The water pokemon cried as it was sent back by the strike.

"Bubbles!" Gloria cried in worry.

"Ace! Use this chance to use Ember on Conga!"

"Scor!!" Ace smiled before kicking up a pebble and coating it into a ball of fire, then jumping up and kicking the rock again at Conga.

The tiny ball of fire directly struck the grass-type on the side, even creating a small explosion.

"Grook!" Conga rolled on the ground and then stopped on its back. He laid motionless with swirling eyes and an open mouth.

"Conga!? Arrgh! I should've known you'd both know about type advantages!" Hop uttered as he rushed down to his pokemon's side.

This left only a somewhat injured Sobble and a jumpy Scorbunny.

_ "Thank god I weakened Conga's attack. Otherwise, that Branch Poke could've caused a lot more damage..." _ Gloria thought as she stared seriously at Victor and his smiling Ace.

"Ace! Use Tackle!"

Ace dashed toward Bubbles.

Gloria grinned, "Bubbles! Use Water Gun!"

Sobble listened and opened its mouth, then shooting out a stream of water directly at Ace.

Victor was waiting for this.

"Dodge by sliding on the ground!"

Ace leaned back and let his back hit the ground while moving forward. He slid along the ground and avoided the water attack that just flew over him while getting closer to Bubbles.

Gloria was so shocked by this that she didn't react when Ace ended up a foot away from a surprised Bubbles.

" _ Now _ , use Tackle!"

Still with the momentum from sliding forward, Ace leaped at the pokemon and rammed his foot right into Bubble's head. "Bun!!"

" _ Ble! _ " Sobble was kicked back and rolled into a ball before rolling all the way into the pond.

"Bubbles!?" Gloria rushed over and looked into the water to see Bubble's body float up with swirly eyes and his tongue sticking out.

"Ble..." The pokemon moaned.

With both pokemon down, the battle was over, with Victor as the winner.

"Scor! Scor!" Ace cheerfully bounced around while his trainer proudly grinned.

Hop pouted as he returned Conga into his pokeball. "Dang it... To think I would be the first out..."

Gloria returned Bubbles into the pokeball with a sigh, "I really didn't expect your pokemon to slide under Water Gun... Have you been teaching it all night?"

Ace proudly sat on Victor's shoulder as the boy put his hands on his hips.

"I taught him a few things, but not too much." He stated.

Leon clapped energetically with a big grin.

"You and your pokemon all fought hard! It made me almost want to let out Charizard and join in on the fun!"

" _ Okay _ , Leon, you just show up to the playground to flex on the kids?" Victor said with a deadpanned stare.

Leon laughed at what he thought was a joke.

"You all fought great and show great promise!" He pointed a finger at the group. 

"So I got a favor to ask of all of you! Be real rivals to each other! Push each other to get stronger!"

"I'm already gonna get stronger! And you've seen me battle now, Lee! So let me take on the Pokemon Gyms so that I can keep keeping stronger!!"

"You? Join the Gym Challenge?" Leon raised an eyebrow as he put his hands on his hips. "Aren't you putting the cart before the Rapidash there, little brother? This is the single greatest competition of Galar we're talking about Hop, and you  _ just _ had your first pokemon battle."

He turned to Victor and Gloria too, "If this is what you guys are thinking about too, you still have a whole lot to learn about pokemon."

"Actually Leon, I've been learning about them for nearly my entire life." Victor said with a blank stare as he remembered day after day of getting taught by his mom with the addition of getting trained by a pokemon itself.

"And I'm pretty sure Hop and I studied enough about them too." Gloria added, hoping that she could join the gym challenge.

"Well, either way! Before you think about getting gym badges, focus on getting a Pokedex first." Leon declared.

"Then let's get them!" Hop rushed them. "Off to the Pokemon Research Lab!"

"Pokemon... Research Lab?" Victor muttered, knowing the place sounded familiar.

"Yeah! That's right beside my house in Wedgehurst!" Gloria said excitedly, "It's where your Mum got them books for ya to study!"

Victor smiled. He knew that he had to ask his mom permission to go, but there was no doubt that she would say yes now that he had grown enough.

"I'll let the professor know to expect both of you!" Leon happily grinned.

"I'll have to let my mom know that I'm finally gonna head into town." Victor told them.

"We'll come with you!" Hop said as he and Gloria each took a spot at Victor's sides.

"I'll see ya in a bit then!" Leon said as the trio started running excitingly back to Victor's house.

Victor was just about to go up the steps to his house when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes.

"Wait." He stopped and held an arm out for the other two to stop.

"What is it?" Hop raised an eyebrow.

"The gate's open." Victor declared with a serious expression.

He immediately thought of the Wooloo that had been mindlessly tackling into the gate before.

"What!?" Hop rushed past him and examined the state of the gate. "Then... the Wooloo that was here is now in  _ there _ !?"

"Watcha both talking about?" Gloria asked, not wanting to be left out of the light.

Hop turned to her, "There was a Wooloo who kept using Tackle on the gate, but now the gate's broken, and he's gone!"

"So ya saying that the Wooloo is in Slumbering Weald now!? That place is dangerous!!" Gloria said.

_ "Not really..."  _ Victor thought as he recalled all the pokemon friends he made in the second place he basically grew up in.

"I heard the professor's granddaughter went in there and came out with bruises and even a few cuts..." Hop shuddered.

"That sounds really terrifying..." Gloria said.

"I'll go in." Victor said casually with a happy smile as he started stepping forward with Ace still on his shoulder.

"Eh?" Both Hop and Gloria blinked.

Victor just barely passed the gate before he felt two pairs of hands grab him and pull him back.

"Wait, wait, wait! Why are you so calm about this?!" Hop asked.

"It's dangerous in there!!" Gloria added.

Victor just smiled back, "I'll be fine. Trust me."

"Th-Then I'm coming with ya!" Gloria declared.

"Me too!" Hop added.

"But, your pokemon are knocked out." Victor pointed out to both of them.

"I still got my Wooloo!" Hop smiled.

"And I can still punch!" Gloria declared with a tight fist.

"Don't... punch a pokemon. Please." Victor told her. "But if you really wanna go... then let's go get that Wooloo." He smiled.

All three of them then rushed into the Slumbering Weald.

* * *

** ~{Slumbering Weald- 10:12AM}~ **

Victor was actually getting nervous.

The fog was nothing like the previous days he had come into the forest. It was thicker than before and made the area even harder to see than usual. Thankfully, Victor knew that he didn't have to worry too much about any wild pokemon jumping out at them. He basically knew them all at this point.

Yet why did he feel so uneasy?

"I-It's really quiet..." Hop stuttered, his eyes glancing around whatever he could see.

"I don't like it... Why did that Wooloo come in here?" Gloria added.

Victor had a deadpanned stare as Hop and Gloria each wrapped around one of his arms. On one hand, he actually enjoyed the close contact of trust by his friends, on the other hand, it was harder for him to move.

Ace led the way of the group as it awkwardly stared back at his partner. "Scorbun..."

Victor glanced around at the parts of the area he  _ could _ see. Leaves fell from the nearby trees, there were many patches of grass, and the boy could hear the wind move in the silence of the forest.

"Let's just find the Wooloo fast." Victor said to them.

Hop had an idea, "H-Hey Victor! You can talk to pokemon! C-Can't you ask one of them here where the Wooloo is!?"

Victor looked serious, "I would, but..." He glanced around. "There aren't any around..."

The other two humans and Ace then noticed that indeed, there weren't any wild pokemon watching them. There wasn't any sign of movement even coming from the trees or grass. 

It was as if they were all alone.

_ "This is weird... I don't like this."  _ Victor made sure his guard was up in case any danger approached. " _ I hope Sensei is here... Does he know what's happening?" _

_ "Grrrrriiieeeld!!" _

They all froze at the sound of the loud howl. Hop and Gloria tightened their grips around his arms, yet Victor looked the most terrified of the group.

_ "I've NEVER heard that in here before!"  _ The boy screamed in his head.

"Wh-What was that!? A pokemon!?" Hop stammered as his gaze shot all over the place.

"I can't pinpoint where it is!" Gloria added as she looked all around her.

Victor took a deep breath to calm himself. 

_ "It said my name... I heard it... Does it want something with me?" _

He put on a brave front and started to pull the others with him. "W-We need to hurry."

"I agree with ya..." Hop muttered.

Ace nodded as he started to jog ahead, the others increasing their pace on the path with him.

_ "It must know me... It must be calling my name because it knows only I can understand it." _ Victor concluded, believing that the pokemon may need help.

_ "Lrrroooaaarrrd!" _

They all froze again.

"Th-That one was different!" Hop cried out.

"I know!" Gloria shivered.

_ "But it called my name too..." _ Victor thought with widened eyes.

For once, the lack of gazes Victor usually felt while in the forest was frightening for him. He didn't know what was happening, but he couldn't call into the trees for his Sensei. It could attract the source of the dangerous howls to them.

He put on an unwavering face and pulled his arms away from Hop and Gloria, then turning to them.

"Come on! We have to keep going! The Wooloo could be in big trouble!" He then turned around and started running ahead with Ace.

"Hey!! Don't leave us!!" Hop cried as he and Gloria ran after him into the even deeper fog.

Victor kept while occasionally glancing back at his friends following. Yet it didn't even take long before he came into a clearing without trees, but with fog the thickest it's ever been. He couldn't even see past a foot in front of him, so Victor stopped to make sure Hop and Gloria were still close.

Gloria and Hop caught up to him and turned their backs to Victor to glance around the area.

"What the hell!? I could barely see my own hand in front of my face!!" Hop said as he waved his hand around.

"Is this why this place is off-limits!?" Gloria added as she looked around with chills.

_ "No... It was never this bad. Something is causing this." _ Victor knew as he glared through the fog.

Ace looked as serious as Victor did as both paid close attention to their surroundings.

His long ear twitched, making him turn back and shout to Victor.

"Scor!"

"I know." Victor said.

"Know what?" Hop asked.

Victor narrowed his eyes.

"We're not alone."

_ "Grrrrriiieeeld!!" _

_ "Lrrroooaaarrrd!" _

The group's widened as Victor turned and saw the silhouettes of  _ two _ pokemon facing both sides of their group.

_ "What!? I didn't even sense them!? When did they get here!?" _

Without hesitation, Victor grabbed Gloria and pulled her behind him away from one of the pokemon, receiving a small blush from the girl as he did. At the same time, Ace jumped in front of Hop with a mad glare of defense towards the other pokemon.

Both pokemon were larger than Victor and resembled the shapes of wolves with thick fur.

Surprisingly, some of the fog cleared around the pokemon to reveal them both to indeed be wolves of red and blue colors. One looked bulkier than the other, but both looked equally as dangerous with their slit eyes.

"Wh-What are they!?" Hop cried out.

"I don't know... I've never seen these guys in any books." Victor stuck his hands out to keep Gloria behind him. "Stay behind Ace and me."

Both large pokemon stared dangerously at the group, the starting to menacingly circle around them with their heads lowered.

"V-Victor, you can talk to them, can't ya?! A-Ask them what they want?" Hop ushered.

"They can understand you guys too, you know!?" Victor pointed out to them as he rotated around his friends to keep himself between them and the bulkier wolf. Ace did the same and followed the smaller wolf who stared him down as he circled around them.

Both pokemon had their gazes curiously fixed on the group, but most notably, they seemed to be focused on Victor.

"I don't know what you both want... But we don't want any trouble. We're just looking for a missing pokemon." Victor tried to talk to them.

That was when both pokemon stopped moving and narrowed their eyes. 

And got into pouncing positions.

Victor's eyes widened as he heard them growl and show their teeth.

"MOVE!" Victor turned around and pushed Gloria away while Ace acted too and tackled Hop away just as both wolves leaped at them.

_ "Grrrrriiieeeld!!" "Lrrroooaaarrrd!" _

"WHOA!" Hop cried as he was sent away.

"VICTOR!" Gloria shouted as she was pushed deeper into the suddenly thicker fog, losing sight of anyone around her. She tried to rush forward, but the fog suddenly increased at too much of a higher density and messed with her head, resulting in her falling to the dirt and completely unconscious.

The same happened to Hop. He had just tried to get up, but the fog got into his head and made him stumble around before falling over. "Guys..." He mumbled before losing consciousness.

As for Victor, the area around the pokemon wasn't as foggy, but he was far from safe.

There he stood between both pokemon, pushing their foreheads away at each side with his hands. He was basically sandwiched between them as he desperately tried to push them back with his shaking arms.

Victor was sweating in panic as his wide-opened eyes stared from one pokemon to the other in fear as he desperately tried to keep them pushed away.

_ "They aren't even trying!!" _ He screamed in his mind as he saw both wolves simply gazing curiously at him while keeping their ground.  _ "It's like they're just messing with me!! They could easily overwhelm me if they wanted too! They're ridiculously strong!" _

"Scor!" Ace came out and was shocked to see his trainer against both wolves.

Hearing him, Victor shouted with a strained voice. "Ace! Ember!"

"Scor!" Ace put on an angry face kicked many fiery rocks at both pokemon.

Yet each one just seemed to get put out upon contact.

_ "No effect!?" _ Victor panicked. "Tackle one of them!"

Scorbunny looked nervous but listened. He jumped forward and stuck his foot out with a battle cry before ramming into the skinnier pokemon and then jumping back.

The wolf's pupil just moved to glare at Ace.

"S-Scor!?" Ace backed up in fear.

_ "Damn it!" _ Victor knew that he and his pokemon couldn't do anything.

He couldn't hold back the two pokemon pushing forward for long, especially if one of them decided to use all of their strength.

_ "Do I have to fight with my power!? Would it even do anything to them!?" _

Before he could come up with an answer, two Water Shurikens flew through the air and rammed into the sides of both pokemon's heads.

They didn't even seem too fazed by any pain, but the attacks did distract both enough to weaken their pushing.

Victor used the chance to muster more strength to push both snouts back, then leaping backward and landing into a crouching manner.

_ "That was Sensei!!" _ He glanced around at the thick fog, searching for any sign of his teacher.

"Hop! Gloria! Are you guys alright!?"

He received no response, making him worry.  _ "Please be alright!" _

"Scorbun!" Ace jumped beside his partner with a battle-ready face. "Scor! Scor!"

"Stay beside me, Ace." Victor said as he stood back up.

The pokemon listened and kept close as both large pokemon turned to them.

Victor pointed both of his arms forward and opened his palms.

"Take this!"

His palms suddenly blasted out two beams of ice at both pokemon.

It visibly hit both of them and started to freeze the pokemon, but both growled and the ice forming around the suddenly shattered.

Victor stared in fear as his Ice Beams died down.  _ "What are they!? Does ice not affect them?!" _

"Scor!? Scor!?" Ace frantically stepped from foot to foot as he saw this.

But pokemon then raised their heads to the sky.

_ "Grrrrriiieeeld!!"  _

_ "Lrrroooaaarrrd!" _

With the last howls from both, the fog suddenly erupted from them and spread throughout the entire area with powerful force.

Victor's eyes widened just as the sudden wall of fog seemed to slam into him. He and Scorbunny were both sent flying back from the force until Victor hit his back on a tree and then landed on the dirt ground on his stomach.

He didn't feel too much pain, but the fog seemed to be affecting his consciousness. He felt weaker, sleepier, and couldn't keep his eyes open.

He forcefully tried to raise his head forward as he saw both large silhouettes heading towards him at a slow pace.

"Guys..." Victor groaned, only thinking about his other friends at this point.

He closed his eyes as both wolves stopped a foot away from him.

"Please be alright..."

He blacked out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did you think of these pokemon nicknames? Wasn't ever really too good with giving pokemon nicknames in general, but trying my best. And as for the version of the game that I'll be basing the gyms off of, I'll be going with Sword. (I need Bea in here... It would be a sin not to have) A lot of things can sure change with our three protagonists on their journey, and I hope I'm doing a good job writing their story in this fic so far.


	5. The First Steps For Adventure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback would be appreciated, whether it's for complimenting the story, pointing out something wrong, asking a question, or to give out a suggestion.

Something was rubbing against his cheek.

"Nngh..." Victor groaned as each of his senses started to return one by one.

He felt the soft fur of a pokemon rubbing his cheek.

He could smell a mixture of the grass and soil with his face so close to the ground.

He heard multiple voices calling out to him, including the worried squeals of his own pokemon.

He could even taste some of the dirt that had gone to his mouth.

"GROSS!" Victor shot up completely awake and started spitting the soil out.

"Victor!!" Hop and Gloria both shouted as they helped pull the boy to his feet.

"Scor! Scor!" Scorebunny hopped up onto his partner's shoulder and nuzzled his cheek against him while Victor spat the last bit of dirt from his mouth.

"Gross, gross, gross! Ugh..." Victor coughed in disgust.

"You're alive!!" Hop and Gloria both hugged each side of him in a tight embrace.

But Victor felt his back ache.

"Ow, ow! Hold on!"

Both humans backed up in worry.

"What is it!?" Hop was the first to ask.

"Ugh! My back!" Victor winced as he put a hand upon it. "I think I rammed into a tree..."

Gloria immediately went behind Victor and pulled the back of his shirt up, catching sight of a large red bruise on his back.

She let out a breath of relief. "It ain't too bad. It should be fine later."

"Right..." Victor didn't sound so convinced but decided to hold that matter as he noticed his surroundings. "Did... Did the fog get clearer?"

"Yeah, it was so thick before I passed out." Hop ashamedly admitted. 

"Guys. I need a favor from you both. Don't tell my mom _ any _ of this. If she figures out that I got hurt from a pokemon, who  _ knows _ when she'll ever let me out of the house again." Victor said with a serious gaze.

"We won't say anything." Gloria reassured him, "But what  _ was _ that? Those were two pokemon I've never seen before."

"I don't know either, and I've been studying them a lot too..." Victor said in frustration of knowing that there were still pokemon he had no knowledge about.

"Scor! Bun!" Ace whined.

"I'm fine, Ace. Don't worry." Victor smiled at his partner.

"Guys!!!" Someone shouted.

They all turned their heads and saw Leon running towards them.

"Lee!? How the hell did you and your sense of directions find us!?" Hop asked in astonishment.

"I see you're still cracking jokes even though I've been worried sick!" Leon shouted as he arrived at the group and put his hands on his hips. "I was waiting for you guys for ages, but you didn't show up!"

_ "How long were we out?" _ Victor wondered as he rubbed his head.

"We came to look for a missing Wooloo that came in here. Speaking of which, we never found it!!" Gloria realized in horror.

Leon gave her a reassuring smile as he moved out of the way to reveal his Charizard watching over Wooloo.

Seeing the Wooloo there, Victor developed several cross-veins of irritation in his head and formed a forced smile.

"Glad to see it's safe." He strained.

He then started walking to it while cracking his knuckles.

"Now, let me have a word with it."

The Wooloo turned blue and had a dreaded look of fear on its face.

"B-B-Baaaa! Baaa!"

"Whoa! Whoa! Easy now!" Hop, Leon, and Gloria all pulled Victor back, although they were shocked at how strong the boy was at pulling all three of them forward.

"Weren't ya the one telling me not to hit a pokemon because we should be friends with them!?" Gloria said to him.

"You still gotta scold them  _ before _ you become friends." Victor said with a twitching eye.

"Baaaa! B-Baaa!" Wooloo cried out.

"Huh?" Victor's anger subsided immediately, and he formed a look of confusion.

_ "It was told to lead us here?" _

"By who!?" Victor snapped.

"B-Baaa!"

_ "What do you mean you can't say!?" _

Leon rushed in front of Victor and reassuringly smiled at him.

"Now, now. I know you might be a bit mad at Wooloo, but you're all fine!"

Victor narrowed his eyes at the Wooloo and used his fingers to point from his eyes to the Wooloo to know that he was watching him.

Leon then noticed the small stains on the kid's clothing and skin.

"What happened to you all?"

Hop spoke out for all of them. "There were two big, mad pokemon here that came out and attacked us! Then they created so much fog that we couldn't stay awake! It was really scary!!"

"Mad... pokemon? What are you talking about?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"These pokemon were nothin like ya saw before! Its presence was enough to make ya shake in ya boots!" Gloria added.

"Ace's attacks didn't even faze them..." Victor finished.

"None of your attacks worked? Well... I did hear rumors that the terrifying pokemon here in the Slumbering Weald can act like allusions, so maybe it was the fog messing with your heads?"

He patted Hop and Victor on their shoulders and gave them smiles, "Get stronger, and maybe you can come back and figure it out. But for now, let's get out of here. You guys will be fine now that I'm here with you."

"Okay..." Victor grumbled, thinking that Leon didn't believe them.

As the group headed out of the forest, Victor looked back and saw a faint silhouette of a tall figure in the trees.

He smiled at it as he saw it's made out the familiar frog-shaped features.

* * *

** ~{Outside Victor's Residence-A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Are you  _ sure _ you're all okay to go down to the lab?" Leon asked the group.

"We're fine, Lee! We didn't get hurt at all!" Hop confidently responded.

_ "Don't tell me he already forgot about my back?" _ Victor deadpanned.

Leon glanced at Victor and Gloria. "What about you two? Are you guys gonna be alright?"

Gloria grinned while holding a fist up, "We're fine, Lee! Now that you healed our pokemon, Bubbles and I are ready for anything!"

Victor formed a smile, "I'm good too, Leon. I Just..." He gazed back to his own house. "Gotta make sure of something."

Hop and Gloria both looked like they knew what Victor meant. Would his mother be alright with him leaving to explore the region? They all had thoughts about becoming champion, so it would be heartbreaking if Victor wasn't allowed to go.

Victor turned back to them with another reassuring smile. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet you over there."

"Are ya sure you ain't gonna need my help to convince your mum to let you travel? She loves me after all." Gloria said.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine." Victor convinced them.

"Alright, then. I'll see you there!" Leon suddenly turned around and bolted down the path, making his way towards the Pokemon Research Lab.

"Huh?! Lee! You're gonna get lost! Hold on!" Hop shouted as he ran after his brother.

"Those idiots..." Gloria sighed. She turned around and gave Victor one last, sweet smile. "She'll let you go. I know it." She said before running off to follow the two males.

Victor watched as the three of them ran along the path. 

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace jumped up and down to get his attention.

"You're right. Let's go." 

With that, the two of them went up to their front door.

Victor opened the door, "Mom, I'm- SENSEI!?!"

Victor's eyes bulged as he saw Greninja sitting casually at the kitchen table, holding a mug of what seemed to be coffee.

"Gre. Greninja."

"Don't 'oh, you're back' me!! What are you doing in here!? You've never once gone into my house ever since you took me back when I was younger!" Victor snapped.

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace cheerfully ran over and jumped onto the table. He hopped in place out of excitement to see this pokemon again.

Greninja reached over, and pat the small bunny on the head as Victor's mother came out.

"Oh! Victor, you're back! Look who decided to join us! I honestly never thought that I'd meet your trainer. He's such a gentleman and even helped me cook lunch!" His mother clapped cheerfully.

Victor stared at Greninja with an eyebrow raised. "You know how to cook?"

"...Ninja."

"Hobby, huh?" Victor narrowed his eyes. "But anyway... Why did you decide until  _ now _ to visit my house?"

Greninja put on a stern gaze as he put his cup down.

"Gre... Ninja..."

Victor blinked in surprise. "You're... wishing me goodbye?"

His mother put on a sad smile. "You're gonna be leaving, aren't you?"

The boy was somewhat caught off guard by this.

"Um... Yeah. I was actually gonna tell you that... I wanted to travel to become the champion of Galar."

"The champion!? I knew you were gonna travel, but you're gonna try to be the champion!?" His mother cried out in shock.

Victor nodded. "I was gonna ask you if it was finally okay for me to go out for that reason..."

His mother sighed, "Victor, you showed me that I can't always worry about you. You can take care of yourself. A lot more than others actually due to your powers. But now that I'm hearing that you're aiming to become the champion... What if this causes people to come to find you!? You'll be broadcasted on live television all over the world in  _ just _ the opening ceremony! So what if  _ they _ finally figure out that you're here..."

"It's okay, mom!" Victor quickly tried to reassure her so that she didn't change her mind. "I'm not the kid I was back then! I'm stronger! I can fight for myself! And while taking the challenge, I'll have and even make friends that'll support me!"

"But what if those people that we're supposed to be hiding from suddenly expose your powers out there in front of everyone!?" His mother argued.

"They wouldn't do that." Victor said with a serious face. "They need their operations to be silent and kept away from the public. You told me that the people who made me into what I am were trying to make armies of people like me to take over everything. If  _ they  _ reveal to everyone that I have powers, then it'll just make things harder for them to get me back."

"But that means you  _ know  _ that by doing this, they'll definitely come after you."

"Then I'll fight them off." Victor declared. "I may do more than that, I may finally be able to make them stop hunting us."

Greninja stood up from the table and walked over to Victor's mother before placing a hand on her.

"Gren... Ninja. Gren, Greninja."

Victor opened his mouth, "He said-"

"That you can do it... right?" His mother interrupted with a small smile.

He was shocked that she knew what his Sensei said.

"I could feel Greninja's confidence in you... He really must've made you strong if he believes that you can even deal with anyone that comes your way."

"So..." Victor stared anxiously at her.

"You can go, Victor."

"YES!" Victor jumped with his hands in the air.

"IF you call me every single night of your travels!"

Victor flinched and turned to her with a look, basically asking if she was serious.

"Well?" His mother asked with her arms crossed and a small pout.

"...Yes, mom." Victor said with an awkward smile.

_ "I'm gonna forget a few times... I just know it." _

Greninja seemed to form a smile behind his tongue as he walked back to Victor.

"Ninja. Greninja."

Victor smiled.

"I'll leave my mom to you... Protect her from anything, please."

Greninja nodded, then reaching out his hand for a handshake from Victor.

Instead, Victor rushed forward and tightly wrapped his arms around Greninja.

"Gren!?" Greninja was caught off guard as he felt the kid's unnatural strength tightly hold him.

"Thank you... Thank you for everything... Including helping to make sure that we were okay in the forest." 

Victor turned his head to his mom with an emotional smile, "Thank you both."

Ace smiled at the sight, while Greninja looked somewhat awkward, but managed to return the hug.

* * *

** ~{Outside: 12:21 PM}~ **

Victor crossed the small stone bridge as he counted the decent amount of poke dollars his mother had given him.

"It seems we're finally on our way Ace." Victor hummed cheerfully as his partner pokemon walked beside him.

"Bunny! Bun!" Ace hopped around excitingly as he and his partner made their way onto Route 1 to get to Wedgehurst.

"Now, I'm sure you listened to this before Ace. But mean people might come and try to get me one day. So I want to ask you just in case... Do you still want to be my pokemon?"

"Bun! Bunny!" Ace adorably punched the air in front of him with a determined smile.

Victor laughed as he put away his poke dollars and reached down to pick up his partner from the ground. Ace comfortably laid in Victor's arms as he carried him until he caught sight of Hop waiting ahead.

"Victor!! So your mum finally let you go off to try and become champion!?" Hop excitingly cheered as he ran over to his friend.

Victor stopped with a smile as Hop went up to him.

"Yeah. Mom's officially letting me explore the world. But what are you still doing here, Hop? Shouldn't you already be in the lab?"

Hop grinned and put his hands on his hips, "Yeah, but I realized that you've never actually been to the lab, so I figured I should stay to at least tell you where it is."

"Oh, how nice of you. So, where is it?"

Hop turned around and pointed over past Route 1 and over at a big, purple building in Wedgehurst.

"See that purple building with the pokeball logo on the front?"

"That's the lab?" Victor concluded.

"Yup! And that house next to it is where Gloria lives! You should check it out for the first time!"

Victor smiled as he thought about how his other best friend's house would look.

"I'll check after we get our Pokedex."

"Great! Now, if you'll excuse me..." Hop turned and dashed towards the tall grass. "Im'a get stronger already!!" He declared as he threw Conga out of his pokeball.

"Aren't you supposed to be getting to the lab too!?" Victor shouted after him, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Bunny... Scor." Ace sighed.

"Yeah... I guess we'll just have to go ahead." Victor sweatdropped when he saw that his yelling was in vain.

They made their way over the stone bridge into Wedgehurst, pausing for a moment as they saw Leon's Charizard outside the station surrounded by many children.

_ "That's nice... I wonder what it'll be like if my pokemon and I become popular like that one day." _ Victor gently smiled.

He passed by Gloria's house and stopped in front of it, appreciating the brick building and dark red tile of the roof.

"Victor!" 

The boy turned and saw Leon and Gloria waving at him from the front of the Pokemon Research Lab.

"Oh, so you were actually able to find your way?"

"You don't start joking about that too." Leon laughed. 

Gloria gazed past Victor but noticed a lack of another trainer. "Where's Hop?"

Victor pointed his thumb behind him, "He's fighting pokemon to get his Grookey stronger."

"What!? That little..." Gloria looked visibly irritated as she passed Victor, "I'll get that bloke!"

"He's on Route One!" Victor called out to her.

"Thank you!" Gloria called out.

The two watched her go off before Leon turned back to Victor. "In the meantime, let's go get your Pokedex first!" As he said this, Leon went forward and pushed open the door with Victor following behind him.

Once inside, Victor froze with a look of awe on his face.

The Pokemon Research Lab looked so clean, everything seemed to sparkle in the sunlight that beamed through the window. But what really caught Victor's attention were the shelves upon shelves of books near the back of the room and even a floor up.

He looked left to a table with a tea set on it, turned right to some sort of receptionist's desk, and took a glance at the back of the room to see a plant room in an area of glass, books stacked up beside it, pots of plants scattered around the room, and more desks with boards near them.

"Wow! This place is so big! And look at all the  _ knowledge _ on the walls!" Victor happily spoke.

"What a unique way of saying 'books.'" Leon chuckled as they walked further into the room. "But I've really gotta give it to Professor Magnolia. This place really does look fascinating..."

"Yamp! Yamp!" 

Victor glanced to the ground and saw a pokemon on all fours running towards them. It had a brown body will yellow fluff around its neck with the addition of a bolt-shaped tail and its tongue sticking out.

_ "Oh! A Yamper." _ Victor remembered as he squatted down curiously at the puppy pokemon.

The pokemon waddled over to Victor and curiously gazed up at him while slightly panting with his tongue sticking out.

Victor stared down at the Yamper's yellow eyes as the pokemon stared back into the human's brown eyes.

"..."

"..."

"Want a hug?"

"Yamp!

Leon watched as Victor held Yamper in arms in a tight hug. Both of them had happy smiles on their faces with flowery aromas surrounding them while Ace stared up at Victor from the ground with a small pout.

"Well, isn't that precious?" Leon laughed.

Another voice rang out. "Is that you, Leon? You'd better not be coming to ask about another never-before-seen, powerful pokemon again? I told you there isn't any information about that!"

Victor looked up to the upper level, and his eyes widened at the person there.

What captivated him were her eyes. The tall, slender woman had a pair of unique turquoise eyes that just shined in the light with her bright smile.

He then noticed many other things, such as her ginger hair in a large ponytail, her teal blouse, her large trench coat with four buttons, her light blue skinny jeans, and her unique black and turquoise high heeled boots with hearts.

Victor thought of just one thing with a blank stare.

_ "Damn." _

The captivating woman made her way down the stairs and up to Leon and Victor.

"Hey, it's good to see you, Sonia!" Leon grinned with a wave. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

"That's because you never come to visit." Sonia rolled her eyes. 

Then she noticed someone unfamiliar beside the champion holding onto her very happy Yamper. 

"Hm?" She walked forward and put her hands on her hips with a smile. "Who's your new friend Yamper? I haven't seen him around."

She raised her fingers and gave him a peace sign with a wink. "I'm Sonia, the professor's assistant. It's good to meet you."

Leon went behind Victor and grinned while patting the boy's shoulder, "This here is Victor! Hop says that he's quite the guy!"

"Oh?" Sonia's eyes seemed to brighten up as she heard his name. She leaned forward and her curious gaze got a closer look at the boy. "So,  _ your _ Victor!"

Victor blinked in a fit of confusion as he let Yamper go from his arms.

"Um, do I know you?"

Sonia leaned back and smiled with a clap of her hands. "Nope, but I know  _ all  _ about you. Your mum told me so much."

"Eh?" Victor felt oddly uncomfortable hearing that.

"You see, she always came in here looking for books about pokemon and the Galar region so that she can bring them back. I was doing the same whenever I was taking a break from the Gym Challenge with Leon." Sonia explained.

"Oh, really? Mom never told me about anyone like you." Victor scratched the back of his head.

"Really? How odd. I was always helping her pick out books for you to read." Sonia said with a finger on her chin.

"But... You said mom told you about me, right? What did she say exactly?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Now that seemed to make Sonia smile teasingly. "Kind, confident, reliable, and always looking out to help people."

"Well... I guess that does sound like-"

"Good at cooking, a plain but cute baby face,  _ very  _ honest, and  _ quite _ the husband material." Sonia giggled.

_ "What the hell was that woman thinking saying something like that!?" _ Victor thought with a deadpanned stare.

Ace grinned and nudged his partner's foot.

"She boasted about you so much that I became very interested to see you myself, but now I see what she meant now that you're finally here." The young adult remarked.

"Yup! And now that he's here, you can set him on the right path! I'm gonna go back out and meet with Hop and Gloria!" Leon smiled.

With that, the champion turned around and made his way out of the room.

After he left, Sonia facepalmed and let out a sigh. "Who does he think I am? Some sort of quest starter?"

"Well, you're the only one here who could give a Pokedex, right?" Victor pointed out.

"I guess so... But anyway, while on that topic, you did come here for a Pokedex. So let me see your Rotom phone for a moment."

"Sure thing." Victor reached into his pocket and handed her the Rotom phone.

She turned around and headed for her desk with Victor and a jumpy Ace both following. She then plugged a cable into the boy's phone and clicked a few things on her computer.

"Now, it'll take a moment, so..." She turned around and faced Victor with a smile. "Tell me, Victor, why was it that your mother never let you out or meet more people?"

"Personal reasons." Victor responded calmly with Ace looking away while casual whistling.

"That's the exact same thing she told me ten years ago..." Sonia sighed. "For a kid to be kept inside for so long... It doesn't seem really healthy."

"It was for a good reason, but I at least had Hop, Gloria, and a few pokemon friends out to keep me company. It wasn't too bad." Victor smiled.

"Your mum told me that you were studying most of that time. So do you know a lot about pokemon?"

"Yup! I'm sure I know every pokemon written in this library!" He said as he pointed att the books.

"Well said! I'm sure you'll become an excellent trainer!" Sonia declared with a grin.

Hearing that piqued Victor's interest, "Speaking of trainers... Sonia, you said that you took the Gym Challenge with Leon, right? How did that go?"

Sonia's smile partly seemed to fade, "Well, I was doing fine at first. But... in the end, I decided to drop out."

"Eh!? Drop out!?" Victor was shocked. "But why?!"

Sonia sighed, "I just... wasn't really good enough. At every moment of the journey, there was always one that was always better..."

Victor seemed to realize immediately. "Was it Leon?"

Sonia nodded and leaned back on her desk, "Despite that bloke always having his head in the clouds and not even able to find his way even through a straight line, he always beat me. I knew so much about pokemon. Strengths, weaknesses, abilities, and yet... I was never able to beat him."

Victor could see the frustration in her eyes.

"So, I decided that being a trainer wasn't for me and went on to use my knowledge of pokemon to become my grandmother's assistant." She said, then forming a small smile.

"...Have you ever wanted to continue the challenge?"

Sonia gazed up at the ceiling as she thought about it.

"Sometimes... But I know that it'll just end the same. Besides..." Her gaze fell to the floor. "My pokemon are long gone now."

Victor stared sympathetically at her. "Did... Did you release them?"

Sonia nodded. "I didn't want them remaining around me with just the purpose of keeping me comfortable. The only one that stayed with me is little Yamper there, he really didn't want to leave."

"But why did you release them? Don't you think they'd miss you too?" Victor asked her.

The assistant looked rather sad as she reminisced on it. 

"I wanted them to be free and find their own happiness rather than being stuck in a lab with me doing nothing... They were really sad when I released them, but I wanted them to find actual good trainers."

"What makes you think you weren't a good trainer? Just because you couldn't beat one person?" Victor asked with a serious stare.

Sonia chuckled, "It wasn't like I lost to  _ just _ Leon."

"But what difference does it make that you lost to other people? Losing doesn't make you a bad trainer. A person can somehow win every pokemon battle in the world, but that wouldn't make them a good trainer if they didn't treat their pokemon right. From what  _ I _ interpreted, you thought about what would make your pokemon happy until the very end. You even only released them out of consideration for them... To me, that already makes you a great trainer."

"Aw, how sweet." Sonia gently smiled. "But it doesn't matter now. I've already decided to work as the assistant for my grandmother until I can take over. And even if I wanted to find my pokemon again, the moment you release them, they're nearly impossible to find."

Victor just seemed to form a small smirk,  _ "If you can't talk to pokemon that is." _

"Can I see how your old team looked? Maybe I can get some inspiration."

Sonia eyed him suspiciously, "I guess so. It's on the back of one of my old league cards, but I think you should think of finding your own pokemon team rather than basing it off mine." She turned around and pulled out a drawer before rummaging through it for a second.

_ "League card?... Oh yeah, I read about those at home before." _ Victor remembered as Sonia pulled a card out.

"Ah, here's one." She turned around and handed it to Victor.

The boy saw a ten-year-old Sonia smiling with her hands up in a peace sign while winking at the camera.

He then turned it around and saw what her old team consisted of.

_ "Only four pokemon? I guess that makes sense since she quit about halfway through... Let's see, Yamper, Ninetales, Milotic, and Meowstic. Interesting team." _

He suddenly felt his head start to get rubbed. "Huh?" 

He glanced up to see Sonia standing over him with a gentle smile and a hand on his head.

"You're worried about me, aren't ya? I could tell by that kind look in your eyes. But just focus on your Gym Challenge, alright?"

Victor lightly blushed at getting his head rubbed, but he still had the composure to say, "I'm sure you can continue the challenge one day. And I'm sure your pokemon really miss you."

Sonia removed her hand and turned back to Victor's phone. "I miss them too. But I can't do anything about it now. It's impossible for me to just make a new team to continue the challenge, and I can't just go out and find my old pokemon throughout Galar. This for the best."

Victor felt sad at hearing her say that.

"Looks like your Pokedex had already uploaded into your phone a while ago." Sonia then chuckled to lighten the mood. She unplugged the cord and turned back to Victor, handing him his phone. "This Pokedex is actually a gift from my gran. She wants to meet you, so go visit her on Route 2 after this with the others."

"Alright. I will." Victor said as he checked his new Pokedex for a moment before putting his phone away.

"And one last thing..." Sonia put her hands behind her back and closed her eyes while giving Victor one last smile. "Thanks for believing that I'm a good trainer."

Victor adjusted his beanie before turning to head out with Ace beside him, his head still gazing back at Sonia as he walked.

"I don't believe you're a good trainer. I  _ know _ it."

Sonia was somewhat taken about by such a proud response just as Victor left.

After the boy pushed through the doors, she grinned.

"His mother really was right... He really is good husband material." She joked to herself.

* * *

** ~{Wedgehurst}~ **

Victor stepped outside and stared at Sonia's league card. A new determination seeping through him as he stared at the three pokemon that she had separated from.

_ "I guess I have a little side-quest." _ He chuckled as he put the card away.

"Scor?" Ace asked curiously as he stared up at Victor.

"Yeah, I wanna help her find her friends again. You up to help?" Victor grinned.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Bunny, bun..."

"Um, you do have a choice. Don't think I'm forcing you to come with me on my trip." Victor told him.

Ace just leaped up and landed on Victor's shoulder with a smile, "Scorbun!"

"A joke? I didn't even know pokemon could joke." Victor laughed.

He then caught sight of Gloria dragging both Leon and Hop by the back of their shirts with an angry pout on her face.

"What happened?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Hop kept finding every pokemon he could fight, and Leon got lost twice trying to keep up with Hop." Gloria sighed.

"Our bad." Hop and Leon said with awkward smiles as both stood up.

_ "They really are brothers if they're both causing that much trouble for Gloria..."  _ Victor sweatdropped.

"Well, I got my Pokedex already. But Sonia said her grandmother wants us to visit her later."

"Oh yeah! I wanted to talk to her about the Gym Challenge! Come on, Gloria! Let's get our Pokedex too!" Hop was suddenly the one to hold Gloria by the wrist and pull her towards the lab,

"Hey!?" Gloria uttered as she got dragged inside, leaving only Leon and Victor outside.

Leon put his hand on his hips and smiled.

"So, what did ya think of Sonia?"

"Beautiful, very intelligent, but also seems insecure about her skills." Victor bluntly responded with a straight face.

Leon was surprised by the immediate and honest response, yet he started laughing right there.

"Wow, I love your honesty! What do you think of me?" The champion grinned.

"Optimistic and an idiot."

Leon doubled over on the floor with a depressing aura. "Damn... I didn't think you-"

"But kind, very caring, and clearly deserving of the champion title." Victor finished.

Leon shot back to his feet as if he hadn't even heard Victor's first words, "Good to know you think so highly of me!" He grinned.

Then the man's face lit up, "Oh yeah! While you wait for the other two, maybe you could go check out Gloria's house! Her folks should be home!"

Victor turned left at the house right beside the Pokemon Lab, feeling a new curiosity build up.

"You know... I think I'll finally introduce myself." Victor decided.

"Great! I'll wait inside with the others while you check it out! See you in a bit!" With that, Leon ran over to the door and rushed inside.

Victor turned to Ace on his shoulder, "You wanna head over?"

Ace nodded happily.

The boy walked over to the front door and knocked three times, surprisingly not feeling nervous at all.

After a few seconds, the door opened up to reveal a woman with long, brown hair and a man wearing glasses with brown hair too.

"Um, hello. My name is-"

"OOO!!! You're Victor?!" The mother immediately interrupted with stars in her eyes.

"Eh?" Victor and Ace both shook.

"So you're the young man Gloria has taken such a liking to! Come in! Come in!" The father ushered him.

Victor was basically pulled into the room with Ace looking slightly startled by how fast everything just went.

The next thing he knew, he was standing right in front of a door with a blank face.

"Um... What just happened?"

Dots seemed to replace Ace's eyes as he registered what happened too.

"Bunny... Bunny?" Ace blinked.

"Yeah, they do seem 'friendly.' But... They really sent me to check out their daughter's room?"

"Bunny..."

"Even if Gloria told them about me, aren't they a little  _ too _ trusting?"

"Scorbunny." His pokemon thought it too.

Both stared at the blue door that read;

** Gloria's Room. STAY OUT IF YA KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YA!! **

The sign was somewhat intimidating, yet alluring to them.

"It would be really wrong to go in..."

"Bun... Bun..." Ace agreed.

"Gloria will probably kill us."

"Scorbun..." Ace nodded.

"It would be rude."

"Bunny..." Ace nodded again.

Both then turned their heads to each other with blank gazes.

"..."

"..."

"HOWEVER-!"

_________________________________________

** ~{Outside}~ **

Hop, Gloria, Leon, and Sonia all stepped outside of the lab, with Hop and Gloria both checking out their new Pokedex.

"Great! Now we can start our journey and take on the Gym Challenge!" Hop jumped excitedly.

"Hold on now, Hop. Like I said, I still think it's too early." Leon told him.

"Aw, come on, Lee! We're strong enough to take it!" Gloria complained.

"Maybe head over to my grandmother's house so she can help convince him. I told Victor to head over there so she can meet him." Sonia told the group.

"Then let's go! We can't let him get ahead!" Hop was about to dash ahead until Leon grabbed him from the back of his shirt.

"Hold your Rapidash there, little brother, I actually had Victor check out Gloria's house while he waited for us." Leon told him.

Gloria's eye twitched, and she suddenly became irritated. "Damn it! Why didn't ya tell me that sooner Lee!? Ugh..." She started rubbing her eyes.

Sonia giggled, "You thinking that your folks will overwhelm the boy?"

"I  _ know _ they will... You guys know how they are, so cmon! Let's get Victor out of there before they do something weird!" Gloria started marching towards her house.

At the same time, her front door opened up, and her parents came out with happy smiles.

"Oh! Gloria dearie! How are you?" Her mother cheered.

"Mum! Where's Victor!?" The girl demanded to know immediately rather than say hi to her parents.

Her dad chuckled, "Oh, Gloria. We welcomed him into our house and had him go check out your room."

The moment he finished speaking, the entire group but the parents turned comedically black and white.

"You... did what now?" Gloria's knuckles cracked as her hands ball into fists.

"EEP!!" Hop, Leon, and Sonia all backed up and held on to each other while shaking in fear.

"N-No way..." Leon stuttered.

"Th-The  _ one _ time I tried to go into G-Gloria's room... She turned me into a p-pretzel." Hop stammered with traumatized eyes.

"Sh-She threatened to bleach my hair if I ever went in..." Sonia added just as scared.

Gloria's eyes lost their color as she slowly turned back to the group with a chilling, forced smile.

"Heh, heh... I-It's... alright. M-My room is locked... I-I always m-make sure of it-!"

"Oh, we picked the lock." Her mother happily beamed as she raised lock picking tools between her fingers.

Gloria literally exploded forward and left behind a crater as she tore inside her house with shadows over her eyes.

"I-I think you guys just killed Victor!" Hop feared.

Gloria passed her kitchen.

_ "He's not inside, he's not inside, he's not inside-!" _

She flamed up the stairs.

_ "He's not looking, he's not looking, he's not looking-!" _

She made it to the top and saw her door cracked open.

_ "HE'S INSIDE!" _

She slammed through the door.

Before then completely freezing.

"Soooooo soft!!" Victor cooed with happy tears going down his eyes.

The boy was laying atop of a life-sized Snorlax plushie in Gloria's spacious room.

The walls were covered to the brim in pink and the floor was entirely covered with pink carpet. Every piece of furniture was of a pretty light blue color, but what was the most eye-catching of the room were the stuffed animals. Dozens and dozens of life-sized pokemon plushies were scattered around the room. From Pichu to the life-sized Snorlax, the variety was large.

"Bunny! Bun!" Ace cheered as he swam through several plushies of other pokemon with a happy smile.

"Where did she even get one of these!? They're huge!" Victor laughed as he jumped from the life-sized Snorlax to a life-sized Lapris.

Both then heard a door close, making them completely freeze.

Victor and Ace robotically turned their heads and saw Gloria standing in front of her door with shadows over her eyes.

_ "WE GOT CAUGHT!" _

Victor and Ace stopped what they were doing and stood side by side in straight posturers.

"H-Hey, Gloria! I-I didn't break in, I swear!"

Gloria took a deep breath, "Victor..."

Victor shivered with sweat dripping, "Y-Yes?!"

"When I was small, I promised myself that I would never hit ya..." The girl said with tightened fists.

"R-Really? That's nice to know-"

"HOWEVER-!"

Victor flinched.

Gloria cracked her knuckles together with an eye menacingly flashing red, "But I don't think it counts if ya don't  _ remember _ me doing it."

Ace hid behind Victor's legs with comedic tears. "S-Scor!?"

Victor held his arms up in surrender, "W-Wait a minute, can't we talk about this-!?"

Gloria already took a step forward while swinging her fist so hard, it looked like it was engulfed in flames.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHH-Wait a second." Victor blinked as he raised his hand and easily caught Gloria's punch in his palm.

He let out a breath of relief.  _ "I forgot... Slacking strength and defenses." _

Ace looked pretty impressed.

"..." Gloria still had her head down, but her hands visibly shook. "Wh-Why did ya block it?"

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Um, because I don't want to be punched?"

"..." Gloria swung her other fist, but Victor caught it. Then what followed was the girl constantly pulling back and swinging her fists over and over again. But Victor would either avoid or catch each of these punches easily.

At one point, the girl stopped to catch her breath.

"Wh-Why...?"

"Hm?"

Gloria finally raised her head to reveal her face completely red with an adorably angry pout with teary eyes. 

"Why can't I hit ya!?" She whined.

_ "So cute..." _ Victor thought with a bubbly feeling. He immediately shook the thought off and focused on the matter at hand. "Why are you trying to hit me!? Do you think it's gonna make me forget this!?"

"Y-Yeah! It's always worked before!" She admitted with a cry.

_ "Worked before?"  _ Victor deadpanned. 

He decided to ignore that.

"Do I really have to forget this room?"

"Yes! Yes! YES! Ya have to!" Gloria flailed her arms.

"But why?" The boy was oddly calm.

Gloria looked down and shook. "B-Because..." She looked back up with her eyes closed but watering down. "It's embarrassing!!"

_ "THAT'S IT!?!" _

Victor sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Gloria... But I really don't want to forget."

Gloria fell to her knees in defeat with her head down. "Ugh... Why did it have to be you...?"

Victor gazed down at her while Ace nudged him to do something.

_ "I know... There's only one thing I can do here." _

Victor walked over to her and got on his knees with a smile. He reached over and took of Gloria's beanie, to which he then used his other hand to gently caress her hair.

"Eh!?" Gloria's head poofed with steam as she glanced back at Victor with an agape mouth of shock.

"I don't really know why you're so embarrassed. I always knew you had a cute side in the first place. It always showed whenever I did  _ this _ ." He implied as he rubbed her head.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-!?" Gloria couldn't find her speech.

"I really like your room and all the plushies, so I don't wanna forget it. I think it's really cute."

"C-C-C-" Gloria's ears blew out steam like train whistles.

Then she blasted out of her room.

"IDIOOOOOOOOOOT!!!!!"

Victor and Ace were left with deadpanned expressions.

"So... Did we win?"

Ace shrugged.

_________________________________________

** ~{Outside Again}~ **

"I'll see you all another time! And Victor, visit again sometime to let me know how you were able to survive Gloria!" Sonia waved to the small group leaving.

Victor walked with Leon and Hop, both staring rather intensely at him with curious gazes. At the same time, Gloria remained in front of the group with her head still steaming.

"Hey Victor, how'd ya do it? How'd ya survive Gloria? And what did you see in her room?" Hop whispered in his ear.

"Well..." Victor peaked at Gloria forcing her gaze forward. He formed a small smile, "It's something that I've decided is forbidden to speak about."

"Ehhh!? No fair! Tell me!!" Hop whined.

Leon seemed to save Victor from the whining as they came on Route 2, as the champion rushed in front of all of them and stopped the group.

"Alright, now that you all have a Pokedex, I think it's time for you all to start filling up your teams!"

"No, thanks." Victor said as he passed the champion without too much thought.

And arm reached out and grabbed him.

Leon held him with a laugh, "Hold on there Victor, you can't be thinking of not developing your teams? Are you really going to keep Ace as your only pokemon?"

"No, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna go around catching pokemon randomly just because I need to fill up my team." Victor clarified.

Leon grinned, "That's not really what I'm telling you to do. Everyone has their own way of catching pokemon. I know that." He let go of Victor's shirt and faced the others. "You all know how to catch pokemon, right?"

"Yeah, of course we do, Lee!" Hop grinned.

"Then let's do this." Leon stuck a finger in the air. "I'll go ahead at Professor Magnolia's house, and when you guys arrive, I want all of you to have at least caught  _ one _ pokemon for your party! Think of this as my first test before you even think about taking the Gym Challenge!"

"I'm game! I already have Conga and Wooloo, so getting another will be easy more!" Hop put a fist in the air.

Gloria just nodded quietly.

"Alright! Here are some pokeballs to each of you! Now get out there and catch something, I'll see you at Professor Magnolia's later!" Leon then turned and bolted down the path.

"Are you sure you won't get lost?!" Victor shouted after him.

"I'll be fine!" Leon called back before getting out of earshot.

"A part of me doesn't believe that..." Victor sighed. He turned back to look at his two friends, "I guess we-?"

He blinked as he saw them gone.

"Scor... Scorbunny."

"They both left immediately to catch pokemon? Oh, boy..." Victor turned around and kept walking forward on the path.

"Bunny? Bunny?" Ace looked up at him.

"I mean, I guess I should catch another pokemon..." He said as he started walking through the tall grass. "But not forcibly."

Both Victor and Ace's ears twitched as they picked up the sound of rustling in the grass near them.

Victor and Ace both leaped away from the tall grass and onto the open dirt road, to which they watched rustling in the grass get closer.

"Rooki!!"

The trainer saw a familiar color scheme of black and blue as a bird flew out of the grass and land with its wings open and gave a sharp glare at the two.

_ "A Rookidee?" _

"Rooki! Rooki!" The pokemon spread open its tiny wings as if trying to proclaim dominance.

But it didn't look convincing due to the obvious shaking of an injured leg and the nasty bruises on it.

"..." Victor and Ace turned to each other, then back to the Rookidee. "Um... Do you need help?"

"Rooki!!" The Rookidee just kept its stance.

"You... want to fight? While like that?" Victor narrowed his eyes.

"Dee! Rooki!" The Rookidee flapped its wings hard to help it as it leaped towards Victor.

Victor sidestepped and let the Rookidee fly past him, then watching the pokemon take a hard landing on its injured leg.

It tried standing up but fell to the ground in exhaustion.

"...Do you need help now?"

"..." The Rookidee turned its head away and let out a reluctant grumble. 

"Rooki..."

_____________________________________

** ~{Pokemon Center}~ **

"This little fella is perfectly fine now." The pink-haired nurse said as she brought out the wild Rookidee on a cart.

It looked rather mad despite looking so healthy, glaring directly at Victor as they brought him out.

_ "What did I even do?" _ He sweatdropped. 

The nurse tried to pick up the Rookidee, but the pokemon pecked at her hands.

"Rooki!" It snapped.

"Oh dear, quite the aggressive one." The nurse exclaimed in surprise.

"Sorry, he's just a wild pokemon, so he doesn't take to anyone." Victor explained as the Rookidee flew off the cart.

"Oh? And you still decided to help it? How nice." The nurse smiled.

"Yeah, sorry for the trouble." Victor waved as he exited with Ace on his shoulder and the Rookidee following him.

Once outside, Victor stopped. "Now then..." He turned to the Rookidee that landed on the ground. "What's your situation? Little guy?"

Rookidee stared up at Victor before opening its wings threateningly.

"Rooki!!"

_ "He still wants to fight?" _ Victor thought with a blank stare. He glanced around at the people around them, minding their own business.  _ "It would be bad for me to just start talking this pokemon right here..." _

He turned back to Rookidee, "Follow me, let's at least go to an area with fewer people."

Rookidee glanced around at the surrounding people before reluctantly nodding.

After a few minutes of walking, they made their way back to an obscure area of Route 2 with no sign of any others.

"Alright, so..." He faced the Rookidee. "You really wanna battle my pokemon, little guy?"

Rookidee just shook its head left and right before chirping. "Dee! Rookidee!"

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

"Fight... me?!"

"Rooki! Rooki!"

"Oh! You're from the forest!?" Victor had stars in his eyes as he suddenly got to his knees and leaned closer in excitement to the Rookidee. 

But then he blinked in confusion. "Wait... So how did you end up so injured if you were only supposed to follow me all the way out here?"

"Rookidee..." It grumbled.

"You really fought  _ every _ pokemon you could...? Dang, and you were still sort of standing when you came to me. You must be pretty tough."

Rookidee looked somewhat proud when he said that.

Victor put a hand on his chin in curiosity, "But if you're really from the Slumbering Weald, then you should know of my 'abilities,' so why are you challenging  _ me _ ?"

"Rookidee! Dee, dee!" He flapped his wings.

Victor sighed, "You think fighting me will make you stronger? Well, sorry to say, but you still have a long way to go..."

"ROOKI!" The tiny bird pokemon took offense to this and flew forward at an attempt to Peck Victor.

Victor sidestepped out of the way again as he went through his thoughts,  _ "This Rookidee seems like he's pretty strong, and he's really determined to just keep getting stronger. I wonder..." _

He snapped his fingers with an idea. "How about this! Why don't you come with me on my quest through Galar? I can help you get stronger! Then you can fight me one day!"

Rookidee stopped trying to assault Victor and took a moment to actually think about it.

"Scor... Bun?" Ace didn't look sure about it.

"It'll be fine." Victor reassured him, turning back to Rookidee. "So what do you say? You know that I'm strong if you chose to challenge me, right? And you know the type of training I've done, so I could probably help you!"

"..." Rookidee waddled forward and stared at Victor for another moment, before then turning his head away to avoid a direct gaze at him.

"Rooki... Rookidee. Rooki."

Victor smiled,  _ "He really is full of himself, isn't he? But he's not wrong, I am 'recognizing' his strength." _

"Alright!" Victor reached behind him and pulled out a pokeball, then pointing at it. "Want me to  _ catch _ you? Or you wanna just hang around?"

"Rooki! Rooki!" He chirped angrily.

Victor was somewhat taken aback. "Okay, okay! Wow..." He casually tossed the pokeball at him.  _ "I didn't think that some pokemon viewed a pokeball as important... Like it's some sort of contract..." _

The white and red ball clicked closed after the third shake.

Victor grinned as he picked up the ball and let out his newest member.

"Rooki!" He gracefully spread its wings.

"Great! So now that you're on the team..." Victor pulled out a pen and a small notepad "I think we need to give you a proper name..."

Rookidee looked intrigued as Victor clicked his pen while staring down at him.

"Any suggestions?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, any suggestions? But anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. So yeah, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I'm actually going to make this fic a harem. I'm kind of a sucker for making those. I hope it won't feel forced, I hope it'll be great, and most importantly, I hope you guys enjoy lovable moments between Victor and the females he'll meet during his adventure. Stay tuned till next time!


	6. Leaving For Motostoke

"Alright... So you don't like that one..." Victor sighed as he crossed out another name.

Rookidee remained patiently perched on a rock despite looking somewhat annoyed.

"We need a name that reflects your pride, a name that just gives the feeling of power!" He rose a fist in the air, "A name of elegance and sounds cool!"

Rookidee nodded in agreement at each factor while Ace was sleeping on a small patch of grass.

Victor tapped his head with his pen in frustration.

He paused.

_ "Hm, maybe..." _

He quickly wrote something down and stared at the name from all angles.

"You know..." He smiled. "I think this is great."

Rookidee curiously stared as Victor showed him a bolded out name written on his journal. 

"How about this?" His new partner smiled.

Rookidee stared at this name in wonder. He then chirped "Rookie." with a nod.

"Great! That'll be your new name!" Victor closed his notepad. "Ace! We chose a name!"

The rabbit pokemon rubbed his eyes as he woke up, then turning his head to Victor.

"Scor...?"

Victor proudly waved his hand to present Rookidee, "Introducing-!" He clapped his hands. 

"-Twilight!!"

"..." Ace turned to the newly named Twilight and put his paws on his hips. "Scor? Scor?"

Twilight sighed, "Dee, dee..."

"What do you mean, 'that's probably the best he can do'?" Victor asked with a deadpanned expression.

Ace and Twilight rolled their eyes, "Scor..." "Rooki..." They said in unison.

"It's clearly more than nothing! It's a great name!" Victor pouted.

Ace changed the subject, "Bunny? Bunny?"

Victor turned comedically black and white in shock, "You're right! We're supposed to meet everyone else ahead!!"

He pulled out both pokeballs and returned his pokemon in them. "Sorry about this!"

He then got into a running stance before blasting forward at incredible speeds.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile}~ **

Hop and Gloria lazily sat on the living room couch of Professor Magnolia's house while Leon and the old Professor herself spoke in the kitchen.

"What's taking Victor so long?" Hop pouted. "Don't tell me he's trying to catch every pokemon on Route 2?"

"You know good as well as I do that he wouldn't do that... He even said so." Gloria sighed.

They suddenly felt a rumbling outside before hearing a loud screeching of feet.

"Eh?" Hop got up and saw a load of dust from the ground obscure the sight outside of the window.

The others noticed too, then going outside and finding Victor catching his breath while releasing both Ace and Twilight.

"I'm *gasp* here..."

"There you are, Victor. I was beginning to worry." Leon said with a breath of relief.

"What happened to you?" Hop asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Well... *wheeze*" Victor stood up straight and took deep breaths. "I found this little guy-" He said as he waved a hand to present Twilight. "He was really hurt, so I took him to the Pokemon Center to get healed. Phew... Long story short, he decided to join me."

"Ooo! Really!? You got a Rookidee too!?" Hop pulled out a pokeball from behind him and threw it to reveal another Rookidee.

"Introducing Sky!!" Hop proudly declared.

_ "I think my name is better..." _ Victor honestly believed.

The moment Twilight saw the other Rookidee, it looked angry.

"Rooki!!"

The other Rookidee named Sky, saw him and became just as angry.

"Dee!!

Sparks flew between the two.

"Now, now. Don't  _ either _ of you think about causing trouble." Victor said with a smile that didn't match the threatening aura around him.

Both Rookidee's flinched and looked away from each other.

"That's better." Victor said, somewhat satisfied.

"Ah, you must be Victor." The old woman cheerfully said. "My name is Magnolia, I'm sure Sonia has told you a bit about me, especially that your Pokedex was a gift of mine."

Victor nodded, "Yeah, she told me about you. It's nice to meet you."

"Let's all get back inside now, shall we?" Magnolia suggested.

Victor turned to Twilight, who just turned his head away from the other Rookidee.

_ "Oh, boy..." _

They all went inside and gathered in the kitchen.

"Hey Hop, is your Rookidee the only pokemon you caught?" Victor asked him.

"Yup, Lee said we only had to catch one after all. He seemed pretty strong." Hop smiled.

"And what about you, Gloria?"

"You'll see later." Gloria grinned.

"She said the same thing to me." Hop pouted.

"Anyway-!" Leon got their attention. "Victor, Professor Magnolia here has been doing research on Dynamaxing for years! If you need to learn more about it, then I suggest you ask her things so that you can understand Dynamaxing to the fullest."

Magnolia rolled her eyes, "Leon, stop always bringing everything back to pokemon. There are many other things to talk about right now."

"Liiiiiiiiike helping convince Lee that he should endorse all of us for the gym challenge!" Hop declared with finger guns and a grin at Magnolia.

_ "Oh yeah, we do need a letter of endorsement to actually take the Gym Challenge..."  _ Victor recalled.

Professor Magnolia raised an eyebrow and turned to the champion, "Leon, why won't you endorse them?"

Leon nervously rubbed the back of his head, "Well, all three of them just started out as pokemon trainers. There are loads-"

"Studied my whole life." Victor reminded him.

"There are  _ still  _ loads they don't know yet." Leon insisted.

"Stop thinking like that ya bloke!" Gloria pouted.

Magnolia sighed, "Leon, I thought your dream was to have everyone in the Galar region become strong trainers. Isn't that right?"

"I mean..." Leon crossed his arms with a contemplating look. "You're not wrong... But aren't they still too young?"

"LEON/LEE! YOU WERE TEN WHEN YOU TOOK THE CHALLENGE!!" Victor, Hop, and Gloria all shouted in unison, startling the champion.

"Er... I..." He sighed and hung his head in defeat. "I got nothing against that..."

Hop smiled hopefully, "Then-!"

"Let's do this then!" Leon raised his head back up with a new grin. "I need you guys to show me a pokemon battle so great, that it'll force me to endorse you guys!"

"Again, there's three of us. Don't tell me we have to do another free for all?" Gloria raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

Leon put a hand on his chin as he thought about it. "Question... How many pokemon do each of you have?"

"Three."

"Three."

"Two."

Gloria and Hop turned to Victor.

"What?" Victor couldn't help but feel insulted.

"I guess I'll do it like this then..." Leon pointed at Hop and Gloria. "The two of you will fight!"

"And Victor?" Hop asked.

"He only has two pokemon and won the first battle between you all, so he can sit this one out.  _ Your  _ battle will determine all of your endorsements."

_ "So, I'm relying on Hop and Gloria?"  _ Victor thought, feeling somewhat worried about this.

"Then let's do this!" Hop declared as he pointed at Gloria.

* * *

** ~{Outside-4:56PM}~ **

The afternoon sun was starting to slowly fall into the mountains in the distance. Leon, Magnolia, and Victor all stood rise beside the much larger pokemon battlefield right outside the house. Ace and Twilight stood beside each other, although reluctantly, and waited for the event to start.

Hop and Gloria stood across from each other the battle, each of them holding a pokeball in hand as they stared at one another.

"Is it really fine to let  _ their  _ battle determine my endorsement too?" Victor pouted.

"Have more faith in them, Victor!" Leon smiled as he patted the boy on his back.

"It's not like I don't have faith in them, it's just that if I do get endorsed, I'll feel like I didn't do anything to deserve it..." Victor admitted.

Leon rubbed the back of his head, "To be honest, I kind of thought you should've been endorsed already because of your knowledge of pokemon and winning in your first battle. But don't tell Hop or Gloria that."

_ "What an honest champion..."  _ Victor thought with a deadpanned stare.

"I'm going to become the greatest pokemon trainer there is! And to do that, I need that endorsement to take part in the gym challenge!" Hop declared. "Come at me with everything to prove to Lee that we have what it takes!"

"I wonder what kind of passion they'll show in this battle." Magnolia said with a hand on her chin.

"Let's get this show on the road! Go, Wooloo!" Hop flung his pokeball forward, and out came the sheep pokemon himself.

"Baaaa!!"

Gloria tossed her pokeball in the air and caught it before spinning and throwing it, to which a new pokemon came out.

It turned out to be a Yamper.

"Yamp! Yamp!" 

_ "Awwwwwww!!!" _ Victor thought with a look of bliss at the sight of the puppy pokemon for the second time.

The trainers wasted no time at all.

"Wooloo! Use Tackle!" Hop shouted.

"Bolt! Dodge it!" Gloria didn't hesitate.

_ "She named her Yamper, Bolt?... Nice." _ Victor chuckled.

The Yamper named Bolt actually jumped over Wooloo as it charged at him, leaving the sheep momentarily confused as to where he went.

"Now, use Nuzzle!"

"Wooloo! Behind you!"

Wooloo turned around just as Bolt jumped at it.

"Baa?!"

"Yamp!" Bolt pushed its cheek against Wooloo's head and the sheep pokemon got shocked with electricity.

"B-Baaaaa!"

Bolt then jumped back near Gloria, with electricity still emitting off a pained Wooloo.

_ "Hm, she paralyzed it."  _ Victor knew.

"Now, Tackle it!" Gloria instructed.

"Yamp!" Bolt ran forward.

Hop looked nervous, "W-Wooloo! Roll out of the way!"

Wooloo tried to move, but a sudden shock of pain kept it in place just as Bolt rammed right into him.

"Baaaa!" Wooloo rolled on the ground until coming to a stop against Hop's legs, twitching and unconscious.

"Return." Hop said rather reluctantly. He then took a deep breath and reached behind him at his next pokemon. "Come on out, Conga!"

The Grookey flipped out of its pokeball and playfully swung its stick. "Grookey! Grook!"

"Bolt! Use Tackle!"

Bolt ran towards Grookey.

"Grookey! Spin to the side and trip it!"

Grookey smiled as it twirled around Bolt as it neared while also swiping its stick onto the floor with enough force to trip the puppy.

"Yamp!?" He faceplanted and ended up upside-down.

"Now, use Branch Poke!"

"Grookey!" Conga leaped forward while thrusting his stick forward.

"Roll over, Bolt!"

Bolt listened and happily rolled over to get away from the stick.

Victor had to cover his red face by how cute that was.

"Don't let it escape! Tackle it down!" Hop declared.

Conga immediately turned around and dashed forward with his shoulder out.

"Get up, Bolt!"

Bolt was still enjoying rolling over the ground and realized he had to stop, but that came too late as Conga rammed into him.

"Yip!" The dog yelped as it was sent back.

"Tackle it down once again!" Hop shouted with a grin.

"Careful, Bolt! Get away!"

The poor puppy not used to pain whined as it rubbed its cheek, but this just allowed Grookey to ram into it again.

"Yamp!" The puppy went on its side and fainted.

"Return..." Gloria returned Bolt into her pokeball with a pout, visibly hurt to see such a cute pokemon get hurt like that.

She shook her head and tossed another Pokeball. 

"Go Ziggy!!"

Out of the pokeball came a black and white pokemon with red eyes.

"Zig! Zigzag!" It playfully jumped around before noticing the Grookey, then getting into a fighting stance. "Zig!"

_ "Gloria's choosing the cute pokemon and is giving them such adorable names." _ Victor thought with a close-eyed smile.

"Conga! Use Branch Poke!"

"Grook!" The chimp thrust its stick towards the new opponent.

"Ziggy! Blind it with Sand-Attack!"

"Zig!" Ziggy spun and swiped it's tail on the floor, causing sand and dust to kick up right into Conga's eye.

"Key!?" Conga backed up while rubbing its eyes.

"Now, Tackle him!"

"Conga! Jump high and forward!"

Despite blinded, Conga listened to its trainer and front flipped forward, avoiding the Zigzagoon that had attempted to tackle him.

Leon was surprised, "Even blinded, he still listened perfectly..."

"Well, he heard with his ears, not his eyes."

"Not what I meant, Victor."

"Zigy! Turn around and Tackle again!" Gloria shouted with a foot forward.

Zigy used its claws to latch to the ground to immediately halt itself before jumping back around and heading towards Conga.

"Conga! Charge straight behind you and Tackle!" Hop waved his hand.

The grass-type listened and just dashed straight ahead while bracing for impact.

Gloria grinned, "Ziggy! Stop and jump on top of Conga!"

Hop was surprised by this claim. "Eh!?"

Ziggy leaped up and landed on Conga's head.

"G-Grookey!?" He tried to shake him off, but Ziggy kept hold with his claws.

"Now, use Lick!" Gloria instructed.

"Ziglllll!!" Ziggy used his tongue to lick the top of Conga's head in a rather loud slap.

"Get him off, Conga!"

Conga tried using his stick to repeatedly whack the pokemon on its head.

"Don't let go and use Lick one last time!"

Ziggy winced at the whacks but listened and performed one last Lick that caused Conga to fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Groo...key..." Conga uttered.

"There we go! Good job, Ziggy!"

"Zig! Zag!" The tiny raccoon pokemon cheered with small jumps.

"Return." Hop didn't hesitate to return his starter before pulling out his last pokeball with a small. "It'll be a close one! But that's exactly my type of match!"

He flung the ball forward. "Go, Sky!"

The proud bird came up and spread its wings. "Rooki! Rooki!"

"Sky, use Peck!"

The bird pokemon dashed forward with its beak.

"Ziggy! Use Sand-Attack!" Gloria immediately commanded.

Ziggy swiped its tail once more to kick up sand and dust to the incoming pokemon.

But Hop was ready for it. "Use your wings to blow it back!"

With a mighty flap of its wings, Sky sends the dust back to his opponent's eyes.

"Zig!?" Ziggy rubbed its eyes in pain.

" _ Now _ , use Peck on it!"

"Ziggy! Jump ba-!"

Gloria didn't finish as Peck directly came into contact with Ziggy and sent him flying back. 

"Zag! Goon!" He fell on its belly, unconscious.

"Already knocked out with one attack!?" Gloria was surprised.

_ "I think Sky landed a Critical point of attack on Ziggy..." _

Gloria returned Ziggy before pulling out  _ her _ last pokemon too.

"Go, Bubbles!"

The water type came out, looking slightly nervous.

"Bubbles! Use Water Gun!" Gloria pointed.

"Sob!! Ble!!" Bubbles fired a stream of water from his mouth directed at Sky.

"Take to the skies!"

Sky listened and used its mobility in the air to avoid the trail of water.

"Just keep using Water Gun to tired it out!" Gloria instructed.

Bubbles jumped around and kept spewing water from its mouth, trying to aim it at the flying Rookidee.

As each stream of water missed, Victor stepped to the side and even tilted his head to effortlessly avoid multiple streams of water that had missed Sky but kept going.

"Nice reactions!" Leon gave him a thumbs up and grin.

Before the champion ended up taking one of these avoided streams of water directly on his face.

"..." Leon sighed.

"Pfft!" Victor and Magnolia covered their mouths to keep from laughing.

Hop noticed that his pokemon was getting tired, so he wanted to end the battle fast. "Sky! Use Peck!"

Sky nose-dived down, trying to finish the battle.

"Use Water Gun!" Gloria shouted one last time.

Sobble charged up and blasted a stronger stream of water than before at the Rookidee coming straight down.

Sky tried to power through the stream, but the pressure of the water had enough force to send it back.

"Rooki!?" It tumbled on the ground.

"S-Sky! Use-!"

"Water Gun!" Gloria shouted.

"BLE!" One final spray of water slammed into Sky and sent it flying.

Hop stared down at his unconscious Rookidee.

"Dang it... The stinging of losing and the joy of winning... I really hope I feel that joy one day." He joked as he returned his last pokemon.

Leon applauded them despite his face still showing signs of being wet.

"Incredible! That was amazing! For starting trainers, you both did some amazing things! From Gloria waiting for Grookey to attack before using Sand-Attack, to Hop returning the attack back with Rookidee! Quite splendid!"

"You guys were great." Victor smiled.

"Hearing that from my bigger rival at least lets me know that I did some things right!" Hop gleamed.

"What do you mean 'bigger rival'? I just won, you know!?" Gloria pouted as she returned Bubbles in her pokeball.

"You're all rivals to each other! And what rivals need... are letters of endorsement!" Leon said as he pulled out three envelopes with special seals.

"You had those on you the entire time!?" Victor shouted.

"Yup! I just need you guys to prove to me you could have them!" Leon tossed all three envelopes perfectly in the air, each of them landing right in the hands of the three trainers.

_ "Whoa." _ Victor thought, actually impressed by such an ability.

"Yippee!! Yippee!!" Hop started  _ hopping _ around. "You won't regret giving this to me, Lee! I'll make my way through every gym just to beat you in the end! I swear!"

"If you can even beat me first!" Gloria beamed.

_ "Ouch." _ Victor deadpanned.

"I want to see more thrilling battles out of all of you!" Leon turned to Victor. "I know you didn't get to battle right now, but I know that you can give me battles just as exciting as theirs!"

Victor raised an eyebrow. "Are you saying my first battle wasn't exciting?"

"It was, don't worry. But I'm just saying that I know you can give me exciting  _ one-on-one _ battles just like theirs!" Leon laughed.

Hop then caught sight of something in the sky. "What's that!?"

They all gazed up and saw something red and sparkling fall from the sky and crash into the ground near them.

"Let's check it out!" Hop ran over without hesitation.

"Wait a minute, Hop! You don't know what it could be!" Gloria quickly rushed after him.

Victor curiously walked over too.

Hop picked up three objects off the ground and turned to his other friends. "Look! They're Wishing Stars!"

"Wishing stars? The thing pokemon need to Dynamax?" Victor recalled.

"Yeah, but if you find one, it's said that all your wishes will come true..." Gloria muttered, taking a peek at Victor before turning away with a tiny blush.

"Here! There are three of them for the three of us! Can't be a coincidence!" Hop passed his other friends a wishing star each.

Leon came over rather intrigued, "I'm actually not surprised by this. Wishing stars are said to fall down for those that have a true wish in their heart!"

"So then I'll be the greatest trainer ever!? Hop squealed.

"Don't be silly, it isn't that easy. Plus, these rocks are simply filled with unknown power that only gives the wish of allowing pokemon to Dynamax. But they can't grant that wish while in that form, so give me them so that I can sort them out." Magnolia told them.

"Oh yeah! You studied a lot about Dynamaxing, haven't you, Professor? Please let us all be able to Dynamax our pokemon! I want to make them bigger, stronger, and amazing to look at!"

"Don't get carried away, young man! You want to save your energy for tomorrow's journey!"

"Tomorrow?" Victor blinked awkwardly.

"Yes, it'll take me time to make Dynamax Bands with those wishing stars. Is that a problem?"

"Er, um..." Victor awkwardly scratched his finger. "I already said bye to my mom with an emotional hug and everything because I thought I would already be heading out of here for Galar... It'd be really awkward for me to go back home  _ now. _ "

"Then how about staying here tonight?" A familiar voice rang.

They turned to see Sonia walk over to them with a bright smile on her face.

"Sonia?" Victor was surprised to see her.

"It seems I've come back home right in time for all the excitement." The ginger beamed.

"Wait, back to what you said just now, did you suggest that I sleep here tonight?" Victor repeated.

"Yeah, I don't see why not. You could stay to wait for your Dynamax band to be finished in the morning." Sonia suggested.

Gloria  _ did not _ like this. "V-Victor! Y-You can stay at my house inste-!"

"I think that's a nice idea." Magnolia agreed with her granddaughter. "If you already left your house thinking that you wouldn't go back, then does that mean that you packed a change of clothes, Victor?"

"Well, yeah, I packed clothes. But is it really okay for me to intrude?" Victor asked out of consideration.

"Nonsense, we would be glad to have you." Magnolia smiled.

Gloria pouted angrily before stating, "L-Let me stay here so that I can wait for my Pokedex band too!"

"Sounds like the three of you should stay!" Leon grinned as he gently pushed Hop and Gloria forward. "As for me, I'll have to be heading back. But tomorrow, let your journey to becoming to best begin!"

"What Leon? You're not even going to stay for dinner? I've been obsessed with making the latest trendy curries." Sonia brought up.

Leon's mouth started to water, "Well, I do like the way you cook, so maybe... Just..." He slapped his cheeks with his hands to snap out of it. "No! Sorry, Sonia, I have to head back!" he calmed himself.

"Such a shame." Magnolia shook her head.

"Good luck tomorrow, you three! I wish you the best as trainers! Goodbye, everyone!" With that, Leon turned and ran down the path of Route 2, surprisingly going the right direction.

For now.

"Hey Sonia, were you serious about making the latest curry!?" Hop asked with a watery mouth.

Sonia proudly put her hands on her hips. "Yup, I've been working on making them in my free time. And now..." 

She walked forward to Victor and leaned forward, giving him a smirk. "I have a chance to impress someone new."

"I'll look forward to it!" Victor immediately responded with a salute of excitement.

Ace and Twilight turned to each other rather curiously, but then both flinched in fear as they suddenly felt a menacing presence beside them.

Gloria was glaring at Sonia with a pout and a black aura around her.

Whether Sonia didn't notice or purposely ignored it, she turned to the pouting girl. "Gloria, would you mind helping me out in the kitchen? It'll take more than just my hands to make curry for everyone."

Victor turned to the brunette, "You helping Sonia cook curry? Even better! I can't wait to try it!"

Gloria's previous anger subsided, and the black aura around her completely changed into a pink one.

"I-I'll work hard..." She mumbled as she passed Victor with a small smile, heading inside with Sonia.

Magnolia kept the two boys back. "Now, as I was saying, why not take Sonia's suggestion and stay over for the night? You wouldn't bother us at all. Hop can stay too if he wants to wait as well."

Victor turned to Hop, and Hop turned to Victor. Both seemed to try to find an answer out of the other.

"Well..." Victor turned back to Magnolia. "I guess we'll accept."

* * *

** ~{10:12Pm}~ **

*Snooooooooore!!!!*

Victo had a blank expression on his face as he listened to Hop snoring across from him on the white couches.

_ "Well... This sucks." _

The boy's snoring had been so bad that both of Victor's pokemon had actually begged him to be returned into their pokeballs for the night, leaving only the blankets for Victor to snuggle with.

He sighed and sat up, not feeling sleepy at all. Usually, this would be the time he would be training with Greininja in the Slumbering Weald, so it somewhat messed up his sleep schedule with the addition of Hop's snoring, making it harder to sleep.

He got up and stretched his arms while heading outside barefoot.

The first thing he saw once walking out the door was the large, bright full moon that shined down at him from above. He glanced right at the garden of plants that were so early in growing that Victor didn't have a clue as to what they were. He walked across the blue pokemon field that had been used for his friend's battle earlier and ended up on the edge of the land where he gazed at the big, bright ball that was being reflected in the beautiful night water.

He sat down at the bench facing the large lake and rested his head in his hand.

_ "So tomorrow I'm heading out for the gym challenge... But more importantly, I'm finally able to explore the famous wild area..." _

He formed a small smile.  _ "I wonder what kinds of pokemon I'll meet over there? I wonder how many could I actually fight...? For training purposes, of course." _

He leaned back on the bench,  _ "But based on what I've read about, there's gonna be a lot of hostile pokemon trying to come at me for no reason... Or maybe I can find out the reason?" _

Victor heard light footsteps behind him.

He turned his head and caught sight of familiar ginger hair.

The young adult was in a fluffy looking light blue nightgown with the addition of heart-designed slippers. She had her arms crossed while heading over to Victor with a smile.

"Hey Victor, you couldn't sleep either?"

"Yeah, just kind of had the urge to go outside." Victor responded as Sonia took a seat next to him.

"I just had to go somewhere else. Magnolia had me share the bed with Gloria, but that lass sure has some absurd sleeping positions..." Sonia sighed as she recalled the reason she couldn't sleep.

"Heh, sounds comfortable." Victor chuckled.

"Sure..." Sonia rolled her eyes before then staring out at the lake.

Both were in momentary silence as they figure out what else to say.

"The curry was delicious." Victor complimented.

"Thanks, Gloria helped me out quite a bit. She really is a good cook."

"Better than you?"

"I doubt it." Sonia smirked.

The woman adjusted herself in her spot on the bench, which made Victor wonder if she was uncomfortable.

"Are you cold?" He asked her.

"Not really, I've always spent nights like this outside with my pokemon. I guess you could say that I got somewhat used to it." The woman said as she started twirling her slightly messed up hair with her finger.

Hearing her mention her pokemon again, Victor decided to ask, "How were your pokemon? You had a Ninetails, Milotic, and Meowstic, but other than that, I don't know too much about them."

A visible happy smile formed on Sonia as she gazed up at the moon.

"Ninetails was the proudest and most stubborn pokemon I've ever seen... No matter how many times she was hit and knocked down, she would always get back up."

She gazed at the lake again.

"Milotic was actually introduced to me by a good friend of mine... We met at a large lake where my friend had gotten pictures taken before. She was the most beautiful pokemon I've ever seen... The way she majestically jumped out of the water, the way she sparkled in the sun as she twirled... She never ceased to amaze me. She was the mature and calmer one of the bunch."

Her gaze went to the ground, "As for Meowstic... She really loved me. She always clung to me like a child, and I know that she was hurt the most from being released."

_ "So one's prideful, another's mature, and the last one is childish in need of attention...?"  _ Victor took mental notes before asking:

"But why did you keep Yamper and not Meowstic if she cared about you so much?"

"Because I knew that they could take care of themselves in the wild area... Yamper wasn't near them in terms of strength, so I was worried that he wouldn't survive there."

"Oh."

"..." Sonia seemed to have gotten more depressed as she recalled them.

Victor looked guilty. "Sorry, I guess I shouldn't have brought it up."

"It's fine. But let me ask you something, Victor..." She turned to him with a sad smile. "Do you think they'd forgive me?"

"For letting them go?"

"For betraying their trust." Sonia corrected. "Pokemon trainers should have everlasting bonds with their pokemon. But I... shattered that bond. I didn't put enough trust in them that they would fight and win. I didn't think we'd be able to complete the challenge. I know they must've been hurt..."

Victor smiled, "I've literally only known you for a day, Sonia, but I can tell that you genuinely care about pokemon, and I can see it in your eyes that you really  _ miss _ your pokemon. I'm sure they'll see it too that you still care about them and forgive you. It might take time for them to trust you again, but I'm still sure they'd be glad to see you."

"Heh, a part of me thought you'd say that, but... it's still really reassuring to hear." As she said this, Sonia reached a hand and rustled through his hair. 

"And even though I've only known you for today, I can tell that you're a really are a sweet boy."

Getting his head rubbed by her for the second time of the day, Victor reddened, but that didn't mean that he didn't enjoy this feeling.

"Victor..." Another female's voice grumbled behind them.

Victor and Sonia turned around to see a familiar brunette with her arms crossed along with completely white and irritated eyes.

"The hell are ya and Sonia doing out here in the middle of the night!?" Gloria asked with cross-veins around her head.

"..." Both Sonia and Victor just stared at the girl rather curiously.

Victor then brought up what they were both currently thinking.

"You know, Gloria, I don't know what you're mad about, but it's kind of hard to take you seriously with that Charmander onesie you're wearing..."

"How cute." Sonia added with a giggle.

Gloria's face flushed with red, turning her scary demeanor into an adorably angry pout. "Sh-Shut up! Just tell me what ya both doing here!?"

"I couldn't sleep because of Hop's snoring, and Sonia couldn't sleep because of your 'absurd sleeping positions.' So we came here to relax a little." Victor bluntly answered.

"F-Forget I asked!" Gloria steamed at the mention of the way she slept.

She marched over and sat down on the left side of Victor with her arms crossed and still pouting.

Victor stared at her before saying, "You know, that onesie looks cu-"

"Shut it." 

"Alright, then."

All three of them faced the lake in a new silence.

"Are you excited for tomorrow?" Sonia asked the two to break the awkward silence.

Victor smiled, "Of course. It'll be my first time ever going to the wild area after all."

"It'll be  _ our  _ first time, including Hop. We had to learn about the area before we could leave too, you know?" Gloria corrected.

"Well, either way, we'll be going out to meet so many new pokemon."

"Speaking of pokemon, Hop mentioned that you three met two mysterious pokemon in the Slumbering Weald. Is this true?" Sonia asked curiously.

"Yeah, they were slightly larger than a normal adult, and they seemed to look like wolves. I've mesmerized every pokemon name from the pokemon research lab, but I didn't have a clue as to what those pokemon were." Victor explained.

"They had fog coming off of them, then we all suddenly passed out..." Gloria remembered with a shiver.

"How odd... I've never heard anything like. I think I'm going to look into it." The assistant declared.

"You don't have to, we could just go back into that forest when we're stronger." Victor told her.

Sonia waved her hand, "Nonsense, it's what I as a future assistant should do!" Then she looked down with a sigh, "Plus, I got an earful from my gran saying 'those young trainers are going to set out on a journey, but what are you doing with your life?'..."

_ "Ouch." _ Victor and Gloria both thought.

But Sonia immediately perked up with a newfound flame, "But now I found something I can look into! And I discover something huge, then maybe Gran'll admit that I've got some talent!"

"Well, I hope you find something." Gloria hoped, thinking that she wouldn't see Sonia again.

"Actually, that has me bring up another thing. You guys might be seeing me on your journey more than you think." Sonia hinted.

"You're coming with us?" Victor speculated.

Gloria flinched.

"Sort of. I'll just come with you on your trip to Motostroke, but once we get there, we'll split up so you kids can get your challenge started and I could research into the pokemon you kids saw."

_ "Motostroke... If I remember from my readings, that place is where we actually sign up for the Gym Challenge." _ Victor recalled.

Gloria pouted, "I don't think-"

"We'll be glad to have you!" Victor innocently smiled.

Gloria hung her head in defeat with a blue aura around her.

"Thanks, Victor, I would love the company." Sonia happily smiled. "So for now, let's sleep so we can be ready for the trip tomorrow."

"I guess we should get back." Victor said as all three of them stood up from the bench and made their way back to the house.

Victor felt bubbly inside as he thought about his adventure for tomorrow.

_ "I can't wait." _

* * *

** ~{Next Day- 10:58AM}~ **

"Here you are, dearies. These are for you." Professor Magnolia happily said as she gave the three teenagers in front of her each a white band with a red X in the middle.

All three of them slipped their newly acquired Dynamax bands on their wrist with happy expressions.

"Those are your Dynamax bands. I made them by fitting the wishing stars you found yesterday into the bands themselves. Now your pokemon will be able to Dynamax anytime on a power spot."

"A power spot..." Victor mumbled as he stared down at his Dynamax band. "So, we can activate these in gyms and glowing dens?" 

"Yup, so make sure you utilize dynamaxing in the wild area to the fullest." Professor Magnolia encouraged.

"Yay!! Now that we got our bands, let's head to Wedgehurst Station to get to Motostoke already! Race you there!!" Hop turned and blasted full sprint out of the door.

"...I'm not even gonna bother going after him." Gloria sighed.

"But all of you should indeed get going. Including you Sonia, go find something to do with your life instead of just studying pokemon we already know about!" 

Sonia sighed, "Yes, gran..."

_ "Ouch." _ Victor and Gloria both thought.

"At least this might be a fun adventure." Sonia smiled as she walked over to the two.

"Goodbye, Professor Magnolia! Thank you for the Dynamax bands." Gloria appreciated as the trio left.

"We'll use them well!" Victor added right before leaving from the front door.

"Oh, you'd better." Magnolia chuckled.

* * *

** ~{Wedgehurst Station-11:07}~ **

"Mom!?" Victor exclaimed with widened eyes.

"Mum!? What are you doing here!?" Hop then added to seeing his own mother.

"Mum, why are you here?" Gloria growled at seeing her own mother there.

"Aww, I'll miss you too, sweetie." Gloria's brunette mother smiled innocently.

"That's not... what I-*sigh*" Gloria gave up.

"We all knew you would all be leaving. Professor Magnolia called me, so then I called the other two mothers to kiss you goodbye." Hop's mum chuckled.

"Victor, I thought you'd be out of here already." Victor's mother let him know.

"I thought I'd be leaving yesterday too, but I needed a few more things for the trip." Victor truthfully answered.

"Well..." His mother handed him something of decent size. "I'm glad I caught you right before you left. I have one last thing to see you well on your way. A whole kit that you'll need for camping!"

Victor stared in confusion at the kit he could carry easily in both of his hands.  _ "This small kit has a tent and cooking supplies!?" _ He decided not to think of it too much as he stuffed it into his backpack.

"Thanks, mom." Victor smiled as his mother gave him a big hug. "I'll be sure to make you proud."

"Scor! Scor!" Ace let everyone know he was there by jumping up and waving his arms to tell Victor's mom that he would watch the boy.

"Oh, I'll miss you too, little Ace." Victor's mother rubbed the pokemon's head. She then focused her gaze onto the professor's assistant. "Ah, Sonia, what did you think of my son?"

Sonia giggled, "He was everything you said he would be."

Victor and Gloria both deadpanned.

"Mom... What were you thinking, spouting unnecessary information about me?" Victor narrowed his eyes.

"Now, now, makes you think that information was unnecessary?" His mother mischievously smirked.

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

Gloria looked  _ very _ suspicious.

"Let's get going now! Our train is here!" Sonia quickly ushered the kids with some pushing.

"Good luck Sonia!" Victor's mother then winked.

"Good luck with what!?" Victor questioned in pure confusion as Sonia gently pushed him towards the train.

"Nothing, you're mother is just getting a little ahead of herself." Sonia said with a roll of her eyes.

Gloria just stared at Sonia with a blank face as they boarded the train.

It didn't take long for the four to find seats, with Gloria aggressively sitting right beside Victor as he scooted to the window seat.

"We'll be off to Motostoke! I can't wait!" Hop grinned.

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Weren't we going to go through the wild area?"

"But we can take a one-way trip all the way to the Motostoke city, that's where we sign up for the challenge and have the opening ceremony." Gloria pointed out.

"Ehhhh!? But I wanted to explore the wild area around Motostoke for the first time! I thought that was where we were gonna go?!" Victor exclaimed.

"Calm down now, Victor, you can always explore later." Sonia calmed him. "For now, just focus on the challenge."

Victor rested his head on the table, somewhat depressed. "Pooey..."

They all laughed.

* * *

** ~{Fifteen Minutes Later}~ **

"Yes, this is the Wild Area Station, make no mistake. I'm sorry to tell you that the train to Motostoke is halted due to a flock of Wooloo on the tracks." The conductor of the train told the group of four.

"How did that happen without any of ya noticing!?" Gloria snapped in disbelief.

"Yay!! Wild Area!" Hop and Victor both cheered with their arms up. 

"What an interruption." Sonia smiled.

"Let's go!" Victor and Hop both dashed out of the station.

"Victor! Don't start getting affected by Hop's habit of rushing ahead!" Gloria shouted after them.

"Oh, dear, I don't want to get left behind." Sonia followed them.

Victor ran out of the station and turned left, where his eyes widened in pure awe.

He saw dozens of spread out, lush green trees, miles of clear field, and rivers and lakes making up the land ahead of him. He quickly ran over to the entrance gate and had his mouth agape in awe with stars replacing his eyes.

"I'm here... I'm finally here!"

"Scor!!" "Grook!!" "Sob!!!" All three starter pokemon cheered.

"Hmph." Twilight didn't look too amused as it flew on the gate ahead to gaze over at the area.

"This is the perfect place to build up our teams!!" Hop beamed. He put a hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he squinted at the town far off in the distance. "That's Motostoke, waaaaaaaay off that way!"

He turned to the three others behind him, "And between there and here are countless new pokemon waiting to be met!"

"And look at all those shining raid dens..." Victor smiled in interest as he saw many beams of red light in the distance.

"They're both really excited about this." Gloria sighed.

"And you're not?" Sonia questioned with a smile.

"I mean..." Gloria looked away, "I guess so. I could find a lot more cute pokemon."

"Let's go!!" Victor jumped.

"Hold on now, first let me give you each something." Sonia said as she reached into her bag.

All three kids curiously turned to her as Sonia pulled out three copies of an odd device that almost looked like a small container.

"These are Pokemon Box Links." She said as she gave one to each of them. "They allow you to put pokemon from your team into your boxes or take pokemon out of your boxes to add them to your team, nice, right?"

Victor stared down at the odd device that had an opening for pokeballs to slip out.

"Wait... How does this work?"

"You don't know? It should be easy enough. You press the screen, and it'll be the same as using a box in the pokemon cent-"

"No, no, not that. I mean, how is it actually possible for pokemon to get sent from boxes into here?"

Sonia shrugged, "Teleport, maybe?"

"..." Victor didn't know whether to question or agree with it. He glanced down to Ace as if looking for an answer, but he just shrugged.

"But this is great! Now we can catch as many pokemon and switch them around!" Hop cheered.

_ "I don't wanna just catch every pokemon and collect them to compare strengths... That just sounds wrong." _ Victor thought but didn't say.

"Hop, just make sure you release the pokemon if you choose not to use them, or if they really don't want to fight." He at least said.

"Got it! Now let's head out and-!" Hop had just started stepping ahead of the entrance before stopping with a rare look of worry.

"What is it? Don't tell me you're getting cold feet-?"

"Shhh!" Hop hushed Gloria while turning back to the group.

"What is it?" Sonia asked in a low tone as she and the others caught up to Hop.

"Lookie over there." Hop pointed.

There was a clear space surrounded by big, dark green trees and a smaller and lighter green berry tree where a noticeably large pokemon roamed. The pokemon consisted of a giant chain of gray boulders that got smaller towards the tail. Victor immediately recognized the pokemon as the tallest of the rock types.

_ "It's an Onix..."  _ He stared in awe.

Sonia's smiled faded, and she looked more cautious. "Careful now, those are one of the larger and stronger pokemon around the Wild Area. Even other pokemon fear and stay away."

Ace and Grookey looked rather scared and backed away, showing no signs of foolishly attacking.

"If we don't get too close and ignore it, then we'll be fine." Gloria suggested to them as Bubbles timidly climbed to her shoulder as if to hide from the pokemon.

"Yeah, Lee told me to be really careful with those kinds of pokemon. We shouldn't do anything to get it's attention, right Victor?"

There was a lack of a response.

"Victor?" Hop asked again as everyone turned to the boy.

Only to see him not there.

"Eh?" They all blinked.

"SCOR! SCOR!!" Ace jumped and pointed with comedically bulging eyes.

"Hey, Mr.Onix!!" 

They turned around and saw Victor waving happily as he ran energetically at the living chain of rocks.

"HE GOING STRAIGHT FOR IT!?!"


	7. Wild Area Troubles

"Victor!?! What are you doing!?" Sonia shouted with her hands grasping her head as she saw the boy running straight at the dangerous pokemon of the Wild Area.

"Hey, Mr.Onix!" Victor waved his hand excitedly as he neared the rock snake pokemon with stars in his eyes.

The Onix stopped moving for a moment as he heard this voice. Then he turned his head with a menacing glare just as Victor stopped only a few feet away from him.

"Oi! Victor! Stop!!" Hop cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted.

"Scor Scor!" Ace called to him in vain.

Their shouts fell on deaf ear as Victor used his Pokedex to compare an image of an Onix to the one right in front of him.

"Wow!! This one looks so much bigger than the average ones!!" Victor innocently exclaimed in awe.

The Onix's eyes dilated, and he threateningly raised his tail up with power coursing around it, causing it to started violently vibrating in a white glow.

"Oooo! This one even knows Iron Tail!?! Then it must be  _ really _ strong then!" Victor squealed like a little kid.

"ON-!!" The rock pokemon violently swung his tail right down over the boy. "-IX!!"

Its Iron Tail slammed down in an attack so powerful that it sent dirt and dust flying in all directions while shaking the earth underneath.

"VICTOR!!" Gloria screamed with a look of horror in her eyes.

A large number of dusty clouds were kicked up by the move, causing the area to be obscured in brown. Everyone was frozen as they had just seen the giant tail fall upon one of their companions. 

But when the dust cleared out, everyone was stunned to see no sign of anyone underneath the Onix's tail, even as he raised it back up to check.

"Onix?" The pokemon examined its tail with a look of confusion, wondering where his target went.

"That wasn't very nice, you know?"

Onix suddenly felt a chill and could swear that there was a murderous feeling behind him. It turned around and backed up in caution, yet all he saw was simply the Victor with his arms crossed and a pout on his face, no sign of the murderous feeling like before.

"I know I'm the one that came up to you, but you didn't have to attack me just because of that." Victor tapped his foot.

"Onix!!" The Onix put on a glare again as he used Iron Tail again and swung it along the ground, attempting to slam right into Victor. 

But instead of slamming into his target, he missed entirely.

"Onix!?" The pokemon was stunned as he saw Victor suddenly flying over him.

_ "So high!"  _ Hop thought in awe as he saw Victor flip through the air and land behind Onix again with his back at him.

Onix's pupils shrunk in anger as he once again raised his Iron Tail and slammed it where Victor was standing, causing even more dirt and dust to kick up.

But this time, once the dust cleared up, Victor was standing on top of Onix's head.

"Come on, do you really have to be that way?" Victor sighed as he sat down on Onix's head and gently pat the stone spine on the pokemon's head.

"ONIX!!" Onix started violently swinging his body around at an attempt to throw Victor off.

"Hey! Calm down now!" Victor shouted as he wrapped his arms around the stone spine to keep himself from getting flung.

Victor's friends all stared with eyes and mouth completely open.

"He's... He's-" Sonia started.

"-RIDING IT!?" Gloria finished.

"Haha!! Whoa there!" Victor grinned as the Onix slammed its own body to the ground and roared.

At one point when he raised head his head with a roar, Victor took his beanie off and waved it around.

"YEE-HAW!!!" 

Onix tried slamming his head into two trees to hit Victor, but failing miserably and only causing him to hurt himself.

At one point, Onix stopped with a look of pure fury and angled its head to point right at the ground.

"Uh-oh!" Seeing this, Victor immediately leaped off the pokemon right before it used Dig to burrow itself into the ground.

Upon landing, the boy started running back to his friends while waving a hand happily to them, "I suggest you guys start running ahead!!"

"Eh?" They all blinked before seeing the Onix burst from underground right behind Victor.

"ONIX!!!" It roared as it started rampaging through the ground and trees to get to him.

"KYAAAAAAHHH!!!!" The group all turned around and ran as fast as they could.

* * *

** ~{East Lake Axewell: Sunny Weather-11:36AM}~ **

The group ended up in front of the stairs that led into the large city of Motostoke. After having been running for some time, they seemed to have lost the Onix and were finally able to rest. They panted and fell on the ground beside a lake in exhaustion, but Victor just stretched his arms with a smile.

"Vic- _ *pant* _ -tor..." Hop weakly called as he forced himself back to his feet. "What...  _ *wheeze* _ was that!?"

Victor turned to them, looking somewhat puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"You know what he means!!" Gloria shouted in one gasp of air, jumping forward and grabbing Victor by the collar. " _ *Pant* _ ...  _ *Pant* _ ... You jumped on an Onix!!  _ *Wheeze* _ And came out perfectly fine!?"

Victor flinched as he realized what he did wrong,  _ "Crap, I did that too naturally!" _

Sonia's legs shook as she got back to her feet and adjusted the glasses on her head, "To think that...  _ *pant* _ You kept such a level-head against such a hostile pokemon... And moved with such mobility, how'd you do it?" She smiled in interest.

Ace crossed his tiny arms and stared at Victor with a look that said,  _ "Now look what you've done." _

"Er..." Victor awkwardly laughed while scratching the back of his head. "With exercise!"

"Really?! You gotta teach me your training regimen!" Hop rushed forward excitedly.

"M-Maybe later." Victor answered.

"You exercise!?" Gloria seemed pretty surprised.

"Well yeah, I do! Every night I put my body to the limit!" Victor grinned, as he knew he wasn't really lying.

Twilight let out a sigh at what he saw Victor did. Although he was indeed from the Slumbering Weald and knew of the boy's abilities, he couldn't believe he still recklessly charged in and ended up on top of a proud Onix.

"That must be quite the exercise you're doing if you're jumping on such a large pokemon." Sonia said as she dusted herself off.

"Well, I did stay home for most of my life, so I had a lot of free time besides studying." Victor laughed.

As for Gloria, she was pouting angrily while glaring at her friend.

Victor noticed this, and nervously raised his hands in surrender to her.

"Sorry... I didn't mean to be reckless."

Gloria looked away, her eyes looking somewhat afraid. "I thought... When it slammed its tail at you, I thought that-"

She felt her beanie removed from her head.

"Eh?"

She looked back up just as Victor planted his hand on her brown hair.

"I'm not gonna get hit that easy." Victor confidently stated as he gently caressed her head. "I'd die from the embarrassment rather than any attacks." 

Gloria lightly blushed and looked down.

_ "I can never say anything when he does that..."  _ She put on another angry pout.

_ "So cute..."  _ Sonia smiled with mysterious flowers floating around her.

Hop grinned and pointed a finger in the distance., "Look, guys! We're already at Motostoke!!"

The group turned to the stairs that led to their destination.

"Let's get going then." Sonia suggested as she started walking.

Victor removed his hand from Gloria's head and placed her beanie back, although looking somewhat sad. "Eh!? We are? But we just got to the Wild Area! I wanted to explore more of it!"

He was suddenly grabbed by both wrists.

"Huh?" He blinked as he realized that he was suddenly being dragged from behind by two pairs of arms.

He glanced behind him and saw both Sonia and Gloria, each holding an arm of his while pulling him.

"You can explore any time after signing up and finishing the entrance ceremony." Sonia smiled as she casually pulled Victor's left arm.

"As if I wanna get another heart attack from you out here." Gloria deadpanned as she pulled the boy's right arm.

"I got his legs!" Hop grinned as he lifted Victor's legs to make them completely lift him off the ground.

"Why you too!? You were supposed to get all excited about exploring with me, you traitor!" Victor snapped as he was lifted up the stairs.

The three starter pokemon and Twilight followed from behind while sweat dropping.

Victor comedically cried as he came up to the top of the steps.

_ "My chance of exploration..." _

"Quit crying Victor, look around you!" Hop encouraged. 

Victor's eyes opened and brightened up as he saw the sight of the city he just entered.

There were bricks, steam, and several large building that made up the entirety of Motostoke. What he saw an exact definition of an industrial city, which was probably because it actually was.

"Wow..." Victor turned left and right at the rather large structures, ignoring the curious gazes of people that watched him get carried through the street by his friends. He remembered reading that Motostoke was a steam-powered city that was considered to be the marvels of modern engineering for the world, and it was a rather nice place to look for a job.

"Should we stop by the pokemon center?" Sonia turned to Gloria.

"I don't think so, our pokemon are perfectly fine. Let's just keep going and sign up for the gym challenge already. We don't even know when the opening ceremony is after all." Gloria responded.

Victor let his head fall back to stare at a rather large structure up ahead that seemed to be of giant gears, yet with a platform visibly connecting to it. Despite staring at it upside down, he immediately recognized it from his readings.

_ "If I remember correctly, that should be an elevator to get up." _

Hop saw the look on his face and smiled. "We'll be taking that lift up to the city's upper level! It'll be the first time I ever get on it!"

"Of course  _ you're _ excited about that." Gloria sighed as they all stepped onto the lift, where they finally placed Victor down. The boy got up and crossed his arms with a pout.

_ "The Wild Area..." _

The mechanism they were standing on suddenly shook and violently moved them up with shifting gears.

"Kyah!" Gloria lost balance and jerked forward, but luckily, her favorite person caught her right in his arms after stumbling too.

"Wow, that was sudden... You alright?" Victor asked as the machine suddenly stopped at the second level.

Gloria glanced up and saw that her face was rather close to Victor's, causing steam to come from her head as she pushed him away and turned her back to him.

"I-I'm fine! Thanks!" The girl sped up ahead.

"Jiiiiiii...." The group of pokemon stared at Victor with unamused gazes, yet the boy smiled and didn't pay mind to them as they all got off the platform.

Victor then gazed in awe at the massive stadium just ahead of him. He saw the carpet of a red centipede-like image on the ground in front of the door. One each side of the door were two League Staff of the sort wearing black and white clothing while standing professionally with orange glasses.

_ "This is the fire-type gym if I remember..."  _ Victor stared as he recalled his research.

Hop had the same thoughts as the group stopped to glance at the gym. "Motostoke Stadium... This is where the opening ceremony will be held!"

"We know, that's why we came." Gloria pointed out.

"I know, it's just that..." Hop nervously scratched the back of his head. "Everyone'll be watching the opening ceremony for the gym challenge. Our mums, the city... The whole world!"

Hearing this, Victor remembered his mother's warning.

_ You'll be broadcasted on live television by even just the opening ceremony! So what if they finally figure out that you're here?" _

He glanced down to the ground and took a deep breath.

_ "The whole world... Will be watching?" _

He thought about the consequences of his actions, the extra dangers he could face in the challenge. But he knew that he wanted this, he knew that he wanted to get stronger and become a champion that can deal with anyone.

He rose his head and put on a grin.

_ "Let them watch." _

As the group made their way towards the gym rather excited, Victor froze behind them as he saw something extremely out of the ordinary, something that had him stare with a puzzled look.

_ "Is that... A man with the head of a pokeball?" _

Victor's group didn't even pay any mind to the person that was standing around doing odd poses as they just passed him.

But Victor's curiosity ended up causing him to walk over to him.

This person's appearance was rather bizarre, starting from the pokeball head with a face on it. From there, his outfit got weirder with his red uniform shirt with gray shorts, some sort of white full-suit that covered his arms and legs, and rather abnormally large gray shoes.

"Um... Hello?" Victor got his attention as he ended up in front of him.

The person in the costume turned to Victor and started tapping his feet on the ground before spinning and striking a pose that involved shaking his hands.

"Ta-da!"

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

"You took the time to talk to a pokeball, so you deserve a little reward!" The person then pulled out a plain red and white pokeball and handed it to him.

"A pokeball?" Victor curiously pointed out as he received the item. He stared at the person. "Who even are you?"

The pokeball person then started tap dancing again, "I'm a pokeball! But I'm not just any old pokeball!"

He spun to the right, then spun to the left, and then shook his hands. "But then who am I, you ask? Well, the answer is simple!"

He then struck the same pose with his hands waving on both sides of his head.

"They call me the Ball Guy!" He exclaimed proudly.

"Ball... Guy?" Victor repeated in confusion. "What do you do exactly? Just give pokeballs to people?"

Ball Guy pointed finger guns at him, "You know it! I make sure every challenger has at least one pokeball for their challenge! It's my duty as the mascot for the league!"

"You're the mascot for the league? Cool!" Victor smiled upon learning that.

"I know, right? I give all kinds of pokeballs to people, but-!"

"Oh, duck, please." Victor politely interrupted.

"Will do!" The mascot surprisingly listened immediately and ducked, to which two tomatoes flew over him and were caught by Victor's hands without even splatting.

He glared at a few kids that looked to by around his age up ahead of the road. They looked rather shocked that their projectiles were caught and had missed their intended targets, not knowing what to do now.

Victor then got into a pitcher's stance before slinging both tomatoes right back right at the two kid's faces, sending them back to the ground with a new color of red on their faces. The other boys around them were stunned by the speed of the throws and panicked, then turning around and running away.

Ball Guy stood back up and turned to see the kids running. "Did something happen?"

"Nope!" Victor innocently smiled, "You said that you give pokeballs to people, right?"

Ball Guy got back in spirit, "Yup! All kinds! I collect so many of them and give them back to special gym challengers! I hope you'll show me that you're special enough to receive them!"

"I hope I can impress you! Also, can you do me a favor and have a strong umbrella ready at all times?"

"An umbrella?" Ball Guy curiously put a hand on his chin with a question mark. But before he could even ask, someone came running and grabbed Victor by the back of his shirt.

"Victor! We're waiting for ya inside!!" Gloria scolded him as she suddenly started to pull him away.

"Oh, sorry. Bye, Ball Guy!" Victor waved to him.

"I'll see you in the future! I always move around gyms!" Ball Guy waved.

As Victor got pulled inside, Gloria started lecturing Victor.

"Ya can't just go around talking to people, especially if they're weird!"

"What's wrong with being around weird people? Leon's weird for always somehow being able to get lost, Hop's weird by how optimistic and airheaded he can be, you're-"

"I get it! I get it!" Gloria shouted before he could continue.

It was then right there that Victor saw the inside of the fire-type gym. The orange and red flame designed carpet, the walls were made of brick like the rest of the city, the large banners that advertised the gym challenge, and the reception desk at the end of the room with a man proudly smiling as someone already started signing up.

Victor turned left and right at the sight of many other similarly-aged kids as him, looked rather excited to have just signed up for the challenge.

_ "I hope things go well for all of us." _ He smiled.

"So many people." Sonia pointed out as Gloria pulled Victor to them.

"Every one of these folks is just another rival!" Hop grinned.

"Don't say that out loud!" Gloria snapped. "Let's just get signed up already!"

As Victor got dragged to the desk, he passed by two other kids going the opposite direction as him.

Time seemed to slow down, and the world turned black as Victor's eyes caught sight of a boy with messy, platinum blonde hair wearing a rather long pink and purple coat. His purple eyes met with Victor's as he maintained a smug grin, almost as if telling him to not bother to join the challenge before he turned his face away.

Victor's eyes then glanced to the left and saw a slim, young girl with a hairstyle of tufts resembling horns, messy twin-tails tied with ribbons, and bangs on her side partly covering her right eye. She was wearing a gothic jacket with a pink mini-dress along with black boots with spike heels. Her emerald green eyes met with Victor's brown eyes as she passed him, a rather scary glare at the boy, yet something didn't feel right about it.

_ "Some interesting people..." _

That was all Victor thought as he stared at both teens heading for the exit. They clearly didn't know one another, but both had the same goal of surpassing everyone in this challenge.

"If you're here to register for the gym challenge, I'll need to see your endorsement, please." The voice of the male at the receptions spoke to them.

"Here ya go!" Hop handed them all three letters of Leon.

_ "When did he take mine!?" _ Victor realized as he checked his pocket.

The staff member took the endorsement letters and formed a look of shock on his face.

"The three of you were endorsed by the champion?!"

Nearly everyone in the room stopped their talking and turned back to see who he meant, including the gothic girl and smug guy who stopped right as they were going out the door.

"Yup, all three of these kids." Sonia smiled as she patted Victor and Gloria with Hop in front of her.

"I wonder what came over Leon this year... The three of you must be something special! I hope to see what you can do, so let's get you signed up!" The male grinned.

"Me first!" Hop  _ hopped _ in excitement.

Victor glanced at the menacing gazes of people that heard who they were endorsed by.

He narrowed his eyes,  _ "We might as well have painted targets on our backs..." _

The three kids signed up for the challenge, giving necessary information such as name, birthday, and place growing up.

Once signed up, the man registering them smiled.

"Now that you're registered as gym challengers, you can choose your preferred number for your uniform, if you'd be so kind. It will be displayed on the back of the uniform that you  _ must _ wear for any official match."

"Any number!?" Hop grinned.

"Er, within three digits, please. We can only professionally fit three-digit numbers on the back of uniforms." The man quickly added.

Hop thought about it for a moment before grinning again.

"Number 189!"

_ "I wonder why 189 specifically?" _ Victor wondered.

The man typed the number and then turned to Gloria. "What bout you, lass?"

Gloria thought about what number to choose. She had forgotten that this was a part of the process and hadn't thought up a number beforehand.

She partly glanced back at Victor, had a sudden thought, then turned forward with a small blush. "F-Four..."

Hop and Sonia both eyed her suspiciously at that reaction.

_ "Why'd she look at him?" _

The man turned to Victor, "And you-?"

"658!" Victor didn't even hesitate with stars sparkling around him.

The man laughed, "Alrighty then!" he said as he typed the last number. "Now then. Please wear this challenger band at all times to identify yourself as a Gym Challenger." He said as he handed all three kids the same kind of band.

"The opening ceremony for the gym is to be held here tomorrow! You can pick up your uniforms by then. All the trainers taking part will be booked at a room in the nearby Budew Drop Inn!" The staff member lastly declared to them.

"That's the league champion for you! I'm sure Leon was even able to book us all hotel rooms!" Hop grinned.

"Wait, since the ceremony is tomorrow..." Victor realized. "Can I go back to the Wild Area!?"

"I suppose you can. But this where I'll split." Sonia said to them as she started walking off. "I'm going to start swinging by the shops and then start looking into anything I can find about the mysterious pokemon you guys encountered."

"I'm gonna check out the fancy digs of the Budew Inn!" Hop shouted excitingly as he suddenly ran ahead, leaving behind only Victor and Gloria besides Ace, Twilight, and Bubbles.

"..." Victor turned to Gloria happily, "Wanna come with me to the Wild Area?"

Gloria smiled at the thought of being alone with him. "Sure!"

* * *

** ~{Rolling Fields: Clear Weather-12:01PM}~ **

"WE'RE GOING BACK TO THE ONIX!?!" Gloria screamed.

Victor suddenly clasped her mouth to keep her silent, "Shhhhhh! We're nearing it!"

The two had been making their way back to where they had run away in the first place. Now both of them were hiding behind a tree while the Onix, still looking angry from earlier, roamed about on its general area.

Gloria knocked Victor's hand off her mouth and had to keep herself composed so she wouldn't scream at him. "Victor... What in Galar makes ya wanna go back to such a dangerous pokemon!?"

"Sob! Sob!" Bubbles tugged Victor's pants to tell him that it was indeed a bad idea.

"Scor! Bunny!" Ace jumped and flailed his arms frantically at the thought of his trainer going back.

Victor, on the other hand, looked perfectly calm as he turned to Gloria with a smile, "I'm gotta apologize to it. I did kind of bother it in the first place."

Gloria was baffled, "Wha-apologize!? Victor, it tried to crush you just for saying hi and complimenting it!! What makes ya think you can apologize without it trying to crush ya again!?"

"Don't worry..." Victor gave her a thumbs-up as a confident sparkle appeared with his smile. "I brought a gift this time!"

"Ya, idiot!!" Gloria hugged him by the arm with a stern face. "I won't let ya go out there again!"

"..." Victor ignored the soft feeling on his arms like a gentleman and focused on the genuine distress in Gloria's eyes.

He used Gloria's hold on him to ironically make her let go, "You know...? You're really pressing up against me. It's cute."

"Eh!?" Gloria blushed and instinctively let go.

Victor used the chance.

"I'll be back in a moment!" He darted away with a grin.

"Wha-huh!? You tricked me!!" She was going to run after him, yet somehow Victor was already nearing the rock pokemon.

"Mr. Onix!!" Victor waved.

Hearing that familiar voice, the Onix tensed up, and its eyes dilated in rage. It turned back and saw the boy, causing his fury to build up as he already raised his tail to strike.

"I'M SORRY!!!" Victor suddenly jumped and landed on the ground, sliding while prostrating himself in front of the powerful pokemon.

Onix was actually caught off guard and froze, his anger momentarily ceasing. "On...ix?"

"I didn't intend to offend you, the mighty pokemon of this area! I only wished to see your elegant figure, which I've never seen before out of my small, humble town!! For me, seeing such a magnificent pokemon such as yourself is a true honor!!"

The Onix slightly backed up as it listened to this rather odd person, unknowing of what to actually do now.

_ "He's sucking up to it!?!" _ Gloria deadpanned with Sobble and Ace staring in the same way. As for Twilight, he just sighed and shook his head.

"I didn't mean to come into contact with your perfect body! I deeply apologize for having done such a thing! And to show you just how truly sorry I am-" Victor rose his head, quickly reached into his backpack, and pulled out something wrapped in tinfoil.

"-I've brought you this humble gift!" He said with a straight face.

Onix slightly leaned forward at the item while growing threateningly, showing that it wasn't that trusting and could threaten any next attack.

Victor then quickly opened the tinfoil and raised the items higher.

"I brought you cookies!" He smiled innocently.

_ "THAT WAS THE GIFT!?!" _ Gloria nearly wanted to pull her hair out.

The Onix took a sniff of the sweets, and any previous signs of anger disappeared while being replaced with an entranced look.

"On... ix...?" It mumbled.

"I wish to offer you this humble gift to beg for your forgiveness!! This batch of delectable sweets is guaranteed to bring you bliss! So I know I have no right to ask, but I only wish of one thing from you!"

Onix waited for him to finish, still looking rather suspicious.

"Are we cool now?" Victor asked with puppy dog eyes.

The Onix stared at Victor, then to the batch of cookies, the back to the boy again. He wondered if it was a trap, wondered if this boy was just going to mess with him again.

But he could only see the pure look of innocence in his eyes.

Onix sighed, and nodded up and down.

Victor was visibly overjoyed, "Then enjoy!! I'll see you again sometime with more of these!" 

He placed the batch of sweets down and backed up while repeatedly bowing to show respect. Onix then leaned down and started munching on the desserts.

Gloria and the pokemon were black and white with blank looks as Victor cheerfully came back to them.

"How... How did ya know what kind of sweets that thing liked?" She asked apathetically.

Victor simply laughed, "I didn't!"

"..." 

Gloria facepalmed, "I'm gonna need to get used to this, don't I?"

Ace, Bubbles, and Twilight all nodded.

Victor didn't even seem to acknowledge their bewilderment and just flexed with a new determined smile.

"Now that I've gotten that fixed, let's start training!!"

* * *

** ~{North Lake Miloch: Foggy Weather-3:37PM}~ **

"Ace! Use Ember on that Purrloin and then jump high!" Victor instructed.

"Scor!" Ace kicked a pebble of fire at a Purrloin that was attempting to use its claws to slice him.

"Pur!!!" The ball of fire directly hit Purrloin and sent it backward.

Afterward, Ace listened upon landing and leaped into the air to avoid an Acid Spray shot out by a Stunky.

"Stunk!" The skunk pokemon tried to use Acid Spray at Ace again, but the pokemon jumped away once more.

"Bubbles, use Water Gun at that Stunky!" Gloria pointed.

"Sobble! Ble!" Bubbles let out a stream of water that slammed into the Stunky, sending it rolling away.

"S...kunk!!" It got up and shook its body to shake off the water before glaring at them.

"Stunky!" It then dived into the grass to hide away from the group. The Purrloin doing the same thing and hiding away.

Victor turned around and saw Twilight flying in the sky while avoiding two Drifloons using Gust to fire literal gusts of wind at him.

"Twilight, do a barrel roll to avoid the Gusts and then use Peck!"

"Rookidee!" The pokemon listened and flapped his wings while turning in order to mimic the flight action instructed. He avoided both Gust attacks by both Drifloons as he got close with his beak glowing.

"Rooki-" It jabbed into one of the Driflooms "-dee!"

"Drif!!" The ghost pokemon cried in pain as it was forcefully pushed to ram into his companion. Twilight then sent them both away with one last push of his beak, which resulted in both Drifloons falling into the grass and out of sight of any of them.

"Good job!" Victor praised them with a smile.

The group had been using the time they had for the day to start training their pokemon against the many hostile pokemon that came at them. 

Usually, Victor would ask a pokemon to battle them out of consideration and to be careful. Still, just as the Wild Area was known for, so many hostile pokemon came at him instead. They would try to attack any way they could, but whenever these pokemon saw that they were outmatched, they would run or hide.

Gloria crouched down and smiled as her three pokemon, Ziggy, Bolt, and Bubbles, crowded around her and enjoyed the rubbings she gave them.

"Alright, we've been at this for a while, so... How about we set up camp and start eating?" Victor suggested.

Gloria turned to him and raised an eyebrow, "Are you sure? Isn't it a bit too... foggy around here, though?"

"Are you scared?" Victor grinned.

"Do you not remember the last time we were in a foggy area!?" Gloria snapped.

Victor flinched, "Er... Right." He said, remembered the encounter of the wolves. "But they shouldn't be all the way here... Right?"

As if on cue, a noise echoed in the fog.

_ "Rrrrrrrrrrrrr..." _

They all flinched, and Gloria immediately got a tight hold of Victor, "Why'd ya have to say that!?"

Ace and Twilight both got into fighting positions with serious gazes. Ziggy, Bolt, and Bubbles did the same and surrounded their own trainer with adorably mad faces.

_ "Ral..." _ The voice echoed.

"It doesn't sound like them this time... And the fog isn't that thick compared to before." Victor reassured Gloria.

"It doesn't matter. It could be another dangerous pokemon, so keep ya eyes peeled!" The girl didn't hesitate to respond despite shaking.

They waited for a few more seconds before hearing the rustling of grass to the side.

All of them jumped and faced the grass with fighting positions as they all expected a large pokemon to come out.

Instead, a small, stuffed animal looking bear came waddling out with a happy smile.

"Stufful!"

_ "Just a Stufful?" _ Victor deadpanned.

However, a comedic arrow visibly struck Gloria's heart.

"SO CUTE!!" She exclaimed with heart eyes. She immediately ran over to the Stufful.

"Hey! Wait Gloria! It'll-!"

The girl had already picked him up in a tight hug in her arms.

"Where'd you come from, little fella?!" She squealed.

Cross-veins formed on the Stufful's head.

"Stuff-" It swung an arm and uppercut Gloria. "-ul!!"

"GAH!" Gloria was knocked upward, flipping through the air before crashing into the ground.

"Sob!/Yamp!/Zig!" Gloria's three pokemon rushed over to her in worry.

"I tried to warn her... Those guys are feisty and hate being touched by someone they don't know..." Victor sweatdropped.

Surprisingly, he heard Gloria start to laugh on the ground.

"Heh... Heh.... Cute... And tough..." She raised her head up, eyes flashing red with a grin.

"I gotta have it!"

She let out a battle cry and dove forward with her hands out like a predator.

"Stufful!?" The pokemon was caught off guard as Gloria tacked her and both rolled around the ground into a cloud of dust while punches were heard.

"You have your pokemon to fight, you know!?!" Victor shouted to her.

_ "Raaaaallll-!!" _

Victor frowned as he realized that the cries of the mysterious pokemon were still going, making him turn around to the fog he couldn't see through. However, what made him look so stern wasn't from any threat, it was that he was finally able to make out the words that the pokemon was calling.

_ "Help?!" _

He noticed Ace with a sharp gaze pointed in the same direction as him.

"You heard it too?" He asked his starter.

"Scor!" Ace nodded.

Victor then heard different, but dangerous cries in the distance. 

_ "Yup, someone's in trouble." _

"Meet me back at the pokemon center!" He shouted to Gloria as he took off into the fog.

"Huh!?" Gloria was just pinning down Stufful when Victor said that, turning to his direction as Victor and his two pokemon disappeared.

"Wh-Where are you going!?"

"I'm sorry! I can't explain right now!!" Victor called as his voice trailed off.

Victor frantically ran and then looked back in the fog to make sure that Gloria or anyone else couldn't see him.

_ "I gotta speed up!" _ He looked ahead and took a deep breath, and his body almost seemed to be vibrating. 

"Hold on!" He grabbed both Ace and Twilight and held them tight.

"Agility!"

He then vanished from running at incredible speeds.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-???}~ **

A humanoid, white-body pokemon with green hair that resembled a bowl cut with flat red horns on his head ran through the grass while mustering whatever strength it had to carry another of its same species on its back.

"Ralts... Ralts." One of the Psychic/Fairy pokemon weakly uttered as it was carried by its friend.

"Ralts!!!!" The struggling pokemon carrying its friend shouted, trying to find someone to help.

However, that attracted some attention from those chasing them.

_ "Lie..." _ A distant purring threatened.

_ "Liepard..."  _ Another one laughed.

The Ralts that shouted didn't regret shouting and giving off his position, he knew that his predators would be sniffing him and his friend out easily anyway. So it was better to at least try to call for help.

But what this Ralts did regret, was suddenly coming to a clear area without grass. Even with the fog around, they would surely have nowhere else to hide if found.

It thought about turning around to go back into hiding in the grass, but it heard it's two menacing enemies coming, so he kept trying to run forward.

"Ralt! Ralts!" The one carrying the other reassured its friend that it would be fine.

"Ralt..." The other weakly cried.

Suddenly, from the grass behind them, jumped out two of the same pokemon.

"Liepard!!" A cruel, cat-like pokemon purred rather aggressively as it landed right in front of both Ralts's path and another Liepard landed behind them.

The Ralts froze as it stared back and forth at the two Liepards circling around them while licking their lips. They were such professional hunters, able to sneak up on prey without making any sounds, yet these two weren't even bothering to sneak. They were practically just making fun of both Ralts at this point and just enjoying their efforts to escape.

"..." The standing Ralts put down his other Ralts friend and then got into a small fighting stance, shaking but have a calm expression.

Both Liepards started to make meowing sounds that sound like laughs, the two of them then getting in pouncing positions.

"Liepard!!!" Both pokemon pounced.

"DROPKICK!!"

An unknown person came flying out of nowhere with both of his feet slamming into one Liepard, and then colliding with the other.

"LIE!!" Both Liepards were sent flying and tumbling onto the ground.

The person then spun before landing on his feet in front of both Ralts, then turning his back and giving them a grin.

"For aa small pokemon, you can sure cry loud!"

The Ralts standing stared in awe that the human just managed to knock away both pokemon in one kick, and was crazy enough to even do it.

Both Liepards got up, and their eye slit in anger.

"LIEPARD!!!

"LIE!!"

A rabbit and a bird landed in front of the boy.

"Scor!"

"Rooki!"

The boy Victor frowned, "Careful you two, these are both evolved and have clearly been in the Wild Area for a while, I don't think you can take them both by yourselves." Victor said.

Ace and Twilight turned to each other, still eager to fight.

"But, seeing as no one's around..."

Victor grinned as he stuck out both arms.

"Leaf Blades."

His arms formed sharp green auras.

The Liepard and Ralts stared in shock.

Victor then took a deep breath and moved his head down, shadows forming over his eyes.

"You know...? I would normally want to get along with pokemon... But seeing pokemon bullying other pokemon is just the same as humans bullying other humans. You all have thoughts, you all can understand each other and talk things out, yet... you choose not to. Anyone like that, whether man or pokemon..."

Victor raised his head to reveal a menacing glare.

** "Deserve to be punished." **

Both Liepards flinched and instinctively backed up. Both staring at the mainly the human with the frightening glare. Despite the sense of danger, they both got into pouncing positions and then leaped forward. 

"LIE-!"

"Ace, Ember! Twilight, Peck!"

"Score!"

"Rookie!"

The Liepards didn't expect the two small pokemon to be the ones to suddenly rush forward with synergetic attacks of a beak and little ball of fire coming into contact with both of them.

"Lie-!!" Both Liepards ended up spinning in the air from both of these sudden attacks.

Victor then took a deep breath and blasted forward.

Two flashes of light occurred with the sound of two slashes to go along with it. 

In the next moment, Victor was crouched down with his arms in a green X shape and his back was facing the Liepards, who were unconscious and with visible wounds on their skin.

Ace and Twilight looked rather satisfied as Victor stood up and his arms faded back to normal.

"Hmph. When they wake up, hopefully they'll have learned something..."

The boy then turned around and formed a smile directed at both Ralts.

"Now then! Let's get you guys treated up at a pokemon center, shall we!"

The standing Ralts nodded and turned to check on his friend lying on the ground, which was when Victor's eyes widened as he saw the fainted Ralts look different from the one standing.

"Blue hair and orange horns?"

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Pokemon Center}~ **

"Stupid Victor, leaving me alone like that..." Gloria pouted as she waited outside the pokemon center for her friend. She had visible punch marks on her face and even a bandage on her cheek as she looked down with a smile.

"Oh well, at least I've got a new member of the team!"

She had a loving smile at a Stufful in her arms, the one that she had encountered earlier in the Wild Area.

Stufful looked rather happy despite it having been tackled by the human holding her earlier, looking up rather interested at her.

"Stuff! Stuff!" She happily cried.

"I hope we get along, Plush!" Gloria tightly hugged her newly named friend in her arms. "* _ squeal!! _ * You're so fluffy!!"

"Gloria! Gloria!" Someone shouted in the distance.

The girl instinctively pouted as she recognized the voice while already turning her gaze.

"Victor! Where did... you...?" Her words trailed off as she saw Victor carrying a Ralts in each of his arms.  _ "A blue-haired Ralts!?" _

She put Plush down and rushed over.

"What happened!?"

"I'll explain in a moment! Let me get these guys healed first!" Victor shouted past her as he ran into the Pokemon Center.

The nurse carried both Ralts away as Victor explained the situation to her.

"Two Liepards... even mockin both of those Ralts? J-Just... Just what were they gonna do?" Gloria shivered.

Victor looked down with a glare, "It's the Wild Area... I think you know. Anything goes for them if they're strong enough."

Gloria looked down with a saddened expression.

Victor saw this look, " _ Anyway, _ I see you made friends with someone else?" He changed the subject as he saw Plush waddle around.

Gloria's eyes lit up as she picked up her pokemon and lifted him closer to Victor. "Yah! This is the fourth  _ adorable _ pokemon of my party!"

"Nice! So you did get it! But didn't you know it would slam you with its arms if someone it doesn't know gets close?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Gloria pouted, "I kind of forgot..."

"But  _ man  _ can you take a hit! Stuffuls are strong little guys, yet you took a punch and then just got up to return the favor!" Victor then laughed.

Gloria awkwardly smiled. "Yeah, I probably should've used my pokemon, but I didn't wanna battle and hurt him..."

"And you thought fighting him yourself was better!?"

"I-I didn't 'fight' Plush!! All I did was convince him that I could be its trainer!"

Before they could argue any more, the nurse came back rolling a cart where both Ralts looked healthy and more cheerful than before.

"Oh, hey guys!!" Victor smiled as the Ralts both hopped out of the cart. 

Victor crouched down curiously at the different colored Ralts and raised an eyebrow. 

_ "Is it just me, or did that blue-haired just sparkle?" _

"Ooo! These seem to be one of those rare, alternate colored pokemon!" Gloria said in excitement.

Victor smiled and reached down to pet both Ralts. The green-haired one let him do so and smiled, but the blue-haired one nervously hid behind his friend while shaking.

His smile faded,  _ "It seems that the alternate colored Ralts suffered some mental trauma by that attack..." _

He stood up straight and adjusted his beanie as his smile returned, "Are you guys hungry?"

* * *

** ~{Battle Cafe- 6:23PM}~ **

"So yeah, I can understand you guys." Victor said in a whisper within the corner of the cafe his group sat at. That was the first thing he pointed out to both Ralts, might as well let them know that he can understand them.

The Ralts were standing on the table while curiously staring up at Victor.

"So... How should I address you guys? Are you male, female?" Victor first wished to know their pronouns in order to address them correctly. He already knew that Ace and Twilight were males, while Gloria's Ziggy and Bubbles were female, but her Bolt and newly acquired Plush were males.

"Ralts, Ralts." The green-haired Ralts spoke.

"So you're a male, and your blue-haired friend here is a female?"

The male, green-haired Ralts, nodded.

Gloria was sitting beside Victor with Plush in her lap and sadly staring at the two pokemon. "What happened to ya both? You were really hurt..."

The green Ralts looked down, "Ralts... Ralts, Ralts..."

Victor narrowed his eyes.

"You found the other Ralts crawling away while hurt, so you rushed over and picked her up?"

Ralts nodded, "Ralts, Ralts."

"Then those Liepard came to finish off the prey, only to have you there too..."

The blue-haired Ralts looked somewhat ashamed as she slightly bowed to her friend. "Ralts, Ralts..."

The green-haired Ralts looked somewhat embarrassed, "R-Ralts! Ralts!"

"He's right, you don't have to feel guilty, it's not really your fault. Stuff like that just happens in the Wild Area." Victor reassured her.

Ace stood on the table and nodded in agreement while Twilight remained perched on Victor's shoulder.

"But... You said that you 'found' the other Ralts. I should've actually asked this sooner, but do you two know each other?" Victor curiously asked.

"Ralts, Ralts." The green one nodded again.

"You don't know her?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Ralts. Ralts, Ralts."

"So, you just saw her in trouble and rushed to help?"

"Ralts. Ralts, Ralts Ralts."

"I see..."

Victor suddenly reached forward and grabbed the Ralts by his tiny hands while inspired stars sparkled in his eyes.

"I know what you mean! Seeing someone in trouble like that, there's no way you could just leave them like that!"

"R-Ralts?!" He was caught off guard by Victor's excitement.

Victor let go and got up from his seat, comedic tears going down his eyes as he thrusted a fist in the air.

"If you have the power to be able to help someone! No... Even if you think you don't have the power, you can't just leave behind someone that needs help, whether human or pokemon!"

The green Ralts stared with a small look of awe at Victor.

Gloria reached out and grabbed Victor, then yanking him back to his seat with a pout. "Victor, you're too loud... People are looking."

Victor glanced around the room and indeed see people staring. "Whoops."

The green Ralts stepped forward with a new looking determined look. "Ralts! Ralts!"

"I know! Helping others who need help, it just feels right!"

Gloria and the blue-haired Ralts stared at the two males getting excited. The human female turned to the pokemon and formed a sad smile.

"It must've been really scary for you..."

The female Ralts nodded and visibly shook as she recalled the experience.

Gloria noticed this and had a sympathetic look, then turning to her friend.

"Victor, she seems pretty shaken up."

Victor and the male Ralts both stopped and turned to the nervous female.

"Hm, it may be bad to leave her just back in the wild, and I'm sure with her special blue colors, she'll attract more unwanted attention..."

The male Ralts stepped closer to the female and pat her on the back to calm her.

Victor then smiled. "How about you stay with us?"

The female pokemon looked somewhat surprised at the claim. "Ralts... Ralts?"

Victor put a hand on his chest, "Gloria and I are working on trying to become the pokemon champion, so we're working on having us and our pokemon grow to become the strongest there is!"

The male Ralts looked very intrigued to hear this.

"We'll help you grow so strong that you won't have to worry about getting hurt like that ever again! In fact, we can make you strong enough to help you protect other pokemon like your friend did for you!" Victor grinned.

"Ralts! Ralts!" The male Ralts waddled over to Victor and took a deep breath.

"You wanna come with  _ me? _ " Victor asked, somewhat excited.

The male put a hand on his tiny chest with a determined stance.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Victor grinned and pulled out a pokeball. "I have no reason to refuse at all! I hope we can help the world together!" He gently moved the pokeball towards him.

Ralts nodded and punched the switch, to which the pokeball absorbed him inside.

The blue-haired female Ralts stared as the pokeball clicked closed.

"I got a Ralts!" Victor grinned.

He then released his new friend.

The female Ralts then stammmered besides them, "R-Ralts! Ralts!"

"Hm, you wanna come with us too?" 

The female frantically nodded.

Gloria noticed the gaze the female had to the male. She turned from the male to the female, and then put on a smirk.

_ "Oh, I see how it is." _

"I'll take ya." Gloria smiled at the female Ralts. "Victor and I are gonna be getting stronger together, so I can help you grow!"

The female pokemon didn't look too sure about going with Gloria. She turned her head over to the male Ralts fist-pumping Victor.

"Hey, you know..." Gloria leaned forward and whispered. "I can also help ya out with ya get closer to ya new 'friend.'"

The female Ralts flinched.

"I'm kinda in the same boat as ya." Gloria smiled with a light blush as she took a glance at Victor.

The blue-haired female Ralts put on a look of shock as she realized what Gloria meant.

Gloria turned back to her while still keeping a smile, "So what do ya say?"

The female nodded and even saluted to her. "Ralts!"

"Great!" Gloria understood as she pulled out a pokeball. "You're really cute, too, so you'll fit perfectly on the team!"

"Oh, Gloria, you and your cute obsessions." Victor chuckled.

Gloria suddenly blushed and started flailing her arms. "Wh-What!? You wanna say something about me!? D-Don't think that just because you know, 'that' about me, that you can make fun of me any- ah!" From suddenly moving her arms around, she suddenly dropped the pokeball, and it landed on the female Ralts, to which the pokemon got absorbed into the white and red sphere.

"Nice!" Victor gave her a thumbs up.

"Don't  _ 'nice' _ me!!" Gloria stammered.

Her Stufful jumped from her lap and curiously sniffed the still shaking pokeball, which then clicked close.

"Now, you got a Ralts too!" Victor smiled.

Gloria pouted as she released her Ralts from the pokeball, to which the blue-haired female seemed to sparkle upon coming out. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean to just drop it on you..."

The female Ralts actually smiled and nodded that she understood.

"Now, time to give you a cute name!" Gloria squealed.

Her Ralts tilted her head to the side.

"Oh yeah, I should give my new Ralts a nickname too. Then we can head for the Budew Inn." Victor remembered.

Gloria started glancing at her Ralts and taking pictures of it from all angles. "Dazzling blue hair, a nice beauty that's gonna be strong..."

She rested her back on her chair and put a hand on her chin in thought.

"I think I'ma call you..." She smiled. 

"Luna!"

The newly named Blue-haired female Ralts smiled. "Ralts!"

At the same time, Victor had his head on his hand as he stared down at his own Ralts.

"This might be a weird nickname, but..."

"Hey Victor, I named my Ralts Luna, what do you think?!" Gloria proudly asked him.

Victor turned to her and smiled, "I think it's cute."

"What are you gonna name yours?" Gloria asked in anticipation.

"I mean, I thought of one that I kind of like, but I'm not sure..."

"Just go for it Victor, if it's you, then I know you're putting a lot of thought in it!" Gloria encouraged.

The newly named Luna smiled at the male Ralts and then at Victor as Plush waddled happily next to her.

Victor stared at his Ralts for a few more moments before smiling.

"Alright. I think I'm gonna call you..."

He put his hands on his hips and smiled down at the male Ralts.

"Midori."


	8. The Starting Line

**~{Battle Cafe-7:01PM}~**

"It's good to have you on the team, Midori!" Victor welcomed his newly acquired Ralts with a smile.

"Ralts!" Midori happily cried on the table.

"Let's get stronger together, Luna!" Gloria welcomed her own alternate colored Ralts to her team.

The female Ralts nodded, although not looking too sure about it. Truth be told, she had accepted Gloria's proposition to go with her on the spot out of fear that Victor wouldn't accept another Ralts, especially since he seemed to really like the male one. The other part of her did wonder if Gloria could help with her interest to properly thank the Ralts that had saved her, but she just met this girl, so she couldn't be sure if things would go well.

Ace hopped over to Midori and shook his hand to welcome him. Twilight only bowed a little in respect.

As for Luna, she backed up nervously when Bolt, Ziggy, Bubbles, and Plush came near her happily, avoiding any contact with them.

_"It might take time for her to get used to everyone..."_ Gloria glanced at Victor while more internal troubles came up. _"Now that I think about it... This Ralts is special... Ain't she? And it seems like Victor would be the better person for helping her get out of her shell... Should I really be the one to have it? I know I said I'd help her get closer with her friend and all, but I haven't even... g-gotten like 'that' with Victor yet, so how could I help her?"_

Luna noticed Gloria's unsure gaze, making her feel somewhat discouraged.

It seems like there were gonna be problems from the start.

"Let's start heading for the Budew Inn. I think we should relax and get some sleep for the ceremony tomorrow." Victor said as he pushed his chair back and stood up.

"Eh? Oh! Alright." Gloria fumbled as she took out all her pokeballs and returned her pokemon.

She was going to return Luna into her pokeball, but stopped as she saw her new pokemon's uncomfortable gaze.

She lowered the pokeball and formed a comforting smile. "You know what...? I'ma let ya stay out for a while. Let's warm up to each other."

Luna looked somewhat relieved.

Twilight perched himself onto Victor's backpack, Ace hopped off the table, and Victor picked up Midori before gently placing him on the floor.

Gloria raised an eyebrow, "Hey Victor, why don't you ever put your pokemon back in their pokeballs?"

Victor turned to her, "Well, since I know that they'll get bigger in the future, I thought it'd be nice to let them out as much as they could for now. After all, if they get big, then all of them won't be able to just walk alongside me."

He glanced at his three pokemon, who all nodded.

"And they all seem pretty quiet and well mannered, so I don't think they'd bother anyone if I kept them out."

"Ah, I see. I kinda want to keep all my pokemon out. But compared to Bubbles and this here Luna, my other pokemon are pretty energetic and keep wanting to move around..." Gloria pouted.

She reached down to pick up Luna, but the pokemon flinched and inched back.

"Ah! Sorry... I'll... Wait till you're ready." Gloria said with her hands up in surrender, then forming a sad smile.

"How about you carry her in your leather backpack?" Victor pointed out.

"Hm?" Gloria grabbed her backpack from the floor and put it on the table, opening the main pocket and looking to see if there was enough space in it.

"So..." She glanced back at Luna and offered her the spot. "That okay?"

Luna gazed inside the backpack that surprisingly had a lot of space, then cautiously inching inside.

Gloria then put on her backpack, with Luna now behind her peaking out of it.

"There we go!" Victor grinned.

Gloria smiled too. _"It's a start."_

"Well then." Victor adjusted his beanie. "To Budew Inn!"

* * *

**~{Budew Inn-7:11PM}~**

The double-automatic doors slid open as Victor led his small team inside the inn they were staying in for the night.

Victor formed a big smile as the first thing he saw was ginger hair.

"Hey, Sonia! I didn't expect to see you so soon!"

The assistant professor turned around and smiled.

"Hey, you two! Like I said when I left, I'm researching the mysterious pokemon you guys said you encountered in the Slumbering Weald. I'm looking into Galar's legends to see if I can figure something out, care to join me? You're here anyway."

"Join ya? What are you planning to find in the inn?" Gloria questioned.

In response, Sonia grinned and stepped aside to show them the golden-colored statue she was examining before.

Victor glanced up at the statue to examine its appearance. It had the look of a knight in armor that was proudly holding up a sword in the air and wielding a shield.

"What's this?" He asked.

Sonia put her hands on her hips, "It's a statue of the hero who once saved the Galar region. I could run through the legend right quick if ya fancy?"

"Do we have to?" Gloria sighed.

"I mean, don't you want to know who were those pokemon that attacked us?" Victor pointed out.

"I guess so... Alrighty, then, give us the details." Gloria grumbled.

Sonia seemed satisfied that they were curious, to which she cleared her throat and waved a hand to present the statue.

"Long ago... a great black storm covered the Galar region. People called it the Darkest Day."

_"Darkest Day?"_ Victor repeated in his head.

"The land was assaulted by gigantic pokemon... but they single-handedly defeated by a young hero bearing a sword and shield."

_"Did he slice through all of them!?!"_ Victor got an uneasy chill.

"This statue here is meant to depict the young hero of that legend. We still don't understand what kind of sword and shield the hero actually had. Or what this 'black storm' was supposed to be, it's all just a big mystery. Whatever it was, it blotted out the skies all across Galar. I suppose that tracks with it being called the 'Darkest Day,' but still..."

"It looks like that hero must've been about as strong as Lee then!" A familiar voice called behind them.

They turned around and saw Hop grinning at the doorway.

"Looks like you're going to have your hands full with plenty of research, Sonia!" He laughed.

"Hop? Didn't ya say ya were already going to check out the inn? Why'd ya _just_ now come?" Gloria raised an eyebrow.

"Hehehe." Hop awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "I got distracted and lost track of time!"

_"For a few hours!?"_ Victor deadpanned.

"Well, now that you're all here, you guys can go and check-in. You're all staying here for the night, correct?" Sonia pointed out.

"Yeah! Lee should've booked _all_ the participants' rooms!" Hop remembered. "We'll look out for you too, Sonia! If we hear anything about the hero or whatnot, we'll tell you as soon as we can!"

Hop then noticed a blue color trying to peek at him from behind Gloria.

"OO!!" He dashed behind the girl and his eyes sparkled at Luna, who seemed rather scared by his sudden appearance. "Ain't this an alternate colored pokemon!? Those are stupidly rare!!"

"R-Ralts!" Luna ducked into the backpack and closed the opening by how close Hop had gotten.

"Hop! Back off!" Gloria turned so that she faced him, "She's been through some trouble and isn't good with anyone getting close!!"

"Really? What kind of trouble? And how'd you find her!?" Hop asked.

"I'll explain later, for now let's just get checked in-"

"What's the problem with you guys!?" An impatient voice cried.

The group instinctively turned up the stairs, where they faintly saw pink and black.

"What's going on?" Victor's instincts had him go up the small number of stairs to check it out.

As he reached the top of the stairs, he stopped and stared at a group of people that looked like they were dressed for a rock and roll concert. Black, pink, punk-like clothes with spike wrist and ankle bracelets, these people were gathered in front of the receptionist's desk looking rather aggressive.

"We came all the way out to the big city so that we could properly cheer on Gym Challengers! Team Yell is here to help! You're in for a battle if you wanna stop us!" The punk member in front of the desk spoke.

_"Huh? Team Yell? Threatening to battle if anyone stops them from cheering... us?"_ Victor didn't comprehend this as he stepped forward and saw other gym challengers looking slightly annoyed.

"I'm glad you're cheering for the challengers, sir, but they need to check into their rooms!" The formally dressed-up male at the desk told them.

"Who cares about them!? Team Yell is all about helpin... Helpin one very special trainer win the Gym Challenge that is!" The front leader of the group shouted.

Victor frowned, _"Okay, so they're trying to mess with the other challengers?"_

"Hey, can you guys calm down and stand aside?" Victor sternly asked as he stepped close to the leader.

Several pairs of eyes turned to him in the forms of glares.

"What was that, mate!?" The front person snapped.

"You're bothering everyone else. We're all here to actually _take_ the challenge. You can cheer for whoever you want, just don't let it mess with everyone else or it'll bring trouble." Victor boldly told them.

"Hah!? Them be fighin' words!!" The leader stepped forward rather aggressively.

Victor closed his eyes and sighed as the Team Yell member got close.

Then he opened them, giving off a look that gave off a sudden explosion of pressure.

"Wah-!?" Each one of Team Yell instantly stepped back, with two of them even falling back to the ground.

For a moment, they swore that Victor gave off an aura so intense, that they could visualize the image of red eyes and a black silhouette from him for a split second.

Then they saw just the boy folding his arms with a typical frown.

"Are you guys done yet?"

The Team Yell members shivered in place, but they weren't out yet.

"Go, Zigzagoon! Use Tackle!" The leader yelled with a toss of a pokeball.

A similar black and white pokemon to the one Gloria had, came out and jumped at Victor.

"Zigg!"

_"Oh, for the love of god!"_ Victor thought to see this.

"Hey! What are you-!?" Gloria's shouts were cut off as a cry of a pokemon intervened.

"Raaaaaaa!!" Midori let out a cry that sent a wave of pink hearts forward, the attack colliding with the Zigzagoon.

"Zigg!?!" It was sent back and toppled on the floor, knocked out after one hit.

"Ah! Zigzagoon!?" The Team Yell male cried out.

Victor glanced down at his Ralts that had his chest puffed up high.

Gloria's Luna stood up out of her backpack and stared rather entranced.

Midori then caught Victor's gaze at him and lost composure, realizing that he acted without instructions.

"R-Ralts! Ralts!" It stammered how it didn't mean to act.

Victor grinned and gave him a thumbs up.

"Nice Disarming Voice!"

Midori was surprised but nodded rather embarrassingly.

"But..." Victor glanced back at Team Yell with a frown as he saw the several other members throw their pokeballs. "Looks like we got more to deal with..."

"Brawl!!" Hop leaped forward excitedly as he released Conga.

Gloria flinched. "Wha-Brawl!?!" 

"Nickit, Beat Up!"

"Zigzagoon, Lick!"

"Tackle!"

"Sand Attack!"

All the pokemon from Team Yell leaped forward.

"Midori! Disarming Voice!"

"Conga, Branch Poke!"

"Ah geez!!" Gloria shouted in frustration as she threw a pokeball, where Bubbles came out. "Bubbles! Water Gun!"

"Raaaaaaaaaaaaa!!/Sooooooooob!!!" Midori and Bubbles shouted in unison, releases a wave of pink hearts and a trail of water.

"Grookey!!" Conga jumped as the heat-shaped projections of a voice and the stream of water passed him and intercepted several dark types coming at them, sending them flying in all directions. Then Conga landed and spun his branch in his hand before using it to strike the two remaining Zigzagoons coming at them.

All the dark types were now sprawled on the floor.

"They beat them all in an instant..." One of the watching gym challengers said in awe.

Sonia came from behind the three kids and applauded them, "Good job, guys!" she smiled.

All of Team Yell returned their pokemon rather nervously.

"Now then..." Victor stepped up to the front leader and grabbed him by the collar.

To which he lifted him off the ground and rapidly shook him back and forth with cross-veins of irritation.

"Why the hell are you guys causing so much trouble!?!" He snapped.

"Oh, wow, he's mad." Hop pointed out.

"W-W-We just wanted to stop all the challengers here so that our Marnie can win!" The male stuttered as he was shaken.

"Who the hell is Marnie!?! What kind of sick person would have you mess with the rest of us just to get an edge in the challenge!?" Victor growled.

"What are you lot doin' here?" A voice called behind them.

Victor turned his head and saw the punk-dressed girl from the Motostoke gym, her cold, emotionless gaze set upon them.

"Marnie!?" All of Team Yell, well... _yelled_.

Victor narrowed his eyes, _"So that's her? God, if this is how 'Team Yell' acts, then there's no telling what kind of girl she is..."_

The girl approached the group and saw Victor holding onto one of the Team Yell members.

"What's going on here?" Her voice was surprisingly quiet despite her fans being so loud, her cold expression still maintained.

Victor let go of the Team Yell boy and he fell to the ground. He then crossed his arms as he faced Marnie with a frown.

"You're the leader of this group, right? Can you tell your goons to let us check-in?"

Hearing this, Marnie demeanor changed completely as she turned to Team Yell with an embarrassed red face.

"A-Are you lot causin' trouble again!?" 

_"!?!"_ Victor's worries of her instantly shattered, leaving him with an agape mouth and eyes shadowed in shock.

"I-I know you all are curious 'bout the other Gym Challengers, b-but show some restraint!" Marnie timidly scolded them.

"We're sorry, Marnie!" Team Yell comedically cried as they all held up banners of their idol.

"She's... not what I expected." Hop said, surprised.

Their pokemon nodded in agreeance.

"She's adorable." Sonia giggled.

Marnie then turned to the trainers and shyly bowed.

"S-Sorry 'bout them! They're just a bunch of my fans... Call themselves Team Yell and follow me around, cheerin' for me. I-I think they've let it go to their heads a bit..."

Victor had a bright aura of pure bliss by just this girl's presence. He had a delightful smile that didn't match the threatening sound of him cracking his knuckles together.

"I can make sure they never bother you again if you want?" He offered innocently.

Team Yell all turned blue and backed up.

"N-No, that's okay!" Marnie quickly responded. She turned to her fanbase with a pout. "Come on, you lot! Back home with you now!"

"Yes, Marnie..." All of Team Yell answered in depressing sync.

As they slowly trudged away, Gloria formed a suspicious stare at Victor.

"Hey, you've been smiling for quite a while now..."

Victor still maintained his pleasant smile as he answered yet still faced Marnie.

"I don't know what you mean."

Gloria became irritated as she glanced at Marnie.

_"I don't like her already..."_

Almost as if to shatter her words, Marnie turned back to them and bowed again with a nervous expression.

"I-I'm really sorry! They're just so caught up with wantin' to support me that they cause trouble for others! Please don't think too badly of them! I just hope we can get along!"

Gloria felt a mysterious arrow pierce her heart, leaving her shaking in place while clutching her chest.

_"Wh-Why!?!"_

She started pouting.

_"Sh-Shes... So CUTE!!"_

Victor took Marnie's hands with stars in his eyes.

"We'll get along! We'll be great friends, I promise!!" He boldly declared.

"Eh? Wha-!?" Marnie was caught off guard by how much closer the innocent boy was.

"Oh my." Sonia smiled at that.

"My name is Victor! I'm aiming to become the next champion of Galar and find the strength to help people and pokemon alike!" He sparkled.

Hop grinned and pointed a thumb at himself. "I'm Hop! I like to be friends with just about anyone! But it's pretty impressive that you already have a set of fans to call your own! Don't worry, I won't think too badly of them."

Gloria, regaining her composure, pouted again and pulled Victor away from Marnie, "Yeah... We can't really blame ya for your fans. At least we can finally get ourselves checked in."

"Gloria, at least introduce yourself." Sonia told her.

Gloria let go of Victor and got in front of him to face Marnie.

"I'm Gloria, the girl that wants to apologize beforehand in case I end up beatin' up any of your fans in the future."

"Eh?" Marnie processed what she said, "P-Please don't..."

Sonia stepped beside Marnie while reaching a hand out, "I'm Sonia, the drop-dead beauty and genius professor's assistant. Come to me anytime if you have any questions about pokemon!" She winked as she formed a peace sign with her other hand.

_"Is she promoting her service?"_ Victor, Hop, and Gloria all wondered in sync.

Marnie nervously shook Sonia's hand. "It's nice to meet ya... I may take ya up on your offer in the future."

"Are you a Gym challenger too?" Victor asked.

She nodded. "Yeah..."

"Then we'll be able to see each other again!" Victor exclaimed happily.

"Don't act so happy about it!!" Gloria shook him.

Hop grinned with his hands on his hips, "Aw, Gloria, are you jealo-!!" 

"SHOR-YU-KEN!" With a flash of her eyes, Gloria uppercut jumped Hop before he could finish.

"ACK!!" Hop majestically spiraled through the air while everyone in the lobby had stunned and gaping mouths.

Surprisingly though, Luna stared up at what happened in impressed awe, not phased by the fact her trainer had demonstrated a scary side to her.

Victor watched Hop fly before he effortlessly caught him in his arms and stared down at the boy twitching.

"V-Victor..." Hop weakly raised his hand. "F-Finish the ch-challenge for m-me... B-Become the very best, that no one... ever... was..."

He went limp with his tongue sticking out. "Bleh..." 

"..." 

Victor shrugged and gently put him down on the ground, then standing back up calmly.

"Okay."

"What kind of uncaring reaction was that!?!" Hop immediately sat up.

"Don't act dead if ya ain't gonna _be_ dead! If you really wanna die, then just say so!" Gloria shouted as she started comedically stomping Hop with her foot.

"Ack!!! Oof! Ugh!"

Luna gulped nervously from Gloria's backpack as she watched her trainer beat Hop down, feeling scared, but also much more curious about her.

Sonia innocently smiled as she managed to somehow pull Gloria away, "Now, now, let's get along. You can stomp Hop later when others aren't watching."

"Aren't you supposed to encourage her not to do it at all?" Victor sweatdropped as he stared down at Hop's mosaically censored corpse.

Marnie was rather dumbfounded at the _very_ unique group in front of her.

She looked down and fiddled with her fingers.

_"They... They seem really nice..."_

* * *

**~{Budew Inn: Victor's Bedroom}~**

"Alrighty! Let's do some overview of today!" Victor said with a clap of his hands towards his three pokemon standing in a line.

Ace put his hands on his hips and puffed his chest proudly, Twilight kept his head facing up high, and Midori stood in an upright but tense stance.

"Ace and Twilight really got some excellent training against a lot of wild pokemon today. Midori here doesn't seem to have too much experience in fighting, but seems to pack quite the punch!"

Victor sat on his bed and pulled a notebook out of his bag, to which he started writing in it.

"Alright, first things I wanna ask, do you guys _all_ want to evolve?"

The three pokemon nodded their heads.

"Good, I also know what you guys will evolve too. Twilight will evolve into a Corviknight, Ace will evolve into a Cinderace, and Midori-!" Victor stopped himself as he remembered;

"Oh yeah, you _do_ have two final evolutions." He recalled as he glanced at Midori.

Victor quickly pulled out his Rotom phone and searched up both Gardevior and Gallade, displaying images of both forms.

"Alrighty! Which one of the two do you want to evolve to in the future?" He asked as he showed him.

Ace and Twilight both had blank looks as they saw the image of Gardevior.

"Scor... Scor?"

Victor frowned at Ace, "So what if he's a boy? Don't judge if he chooses to become a Gardevior!"

"..." Ace just shrugged.

Midori pointed at the Gallade.

"Are you really sure?" Victor asked.

Midori nodded.

"Rookie..." Twilight muttered.

"I'm not trying to _make_ him choose Gardevior!" Victor snapped at him.

Both Ace and Twilight gave him suspicious looks.

"Really!!!"

Victor sighed before focusing back on Midori and put his phone away while smiling.

"Alright, Midori. If you want to become a Gallade, then we're going to have to find a Dawn Stone in the future."

He turned to Ace and Twilight, "As for you two, you'll just evolve naturally over time with experience! So let's get stronger and do our best!"

"Scor!" "Rookie!" "Ralts!" They all agreed.

"And one more thing..." Victor turned to Midori and crouched down closer to him. 

"You saw those powers I used... right?"

Midori nodded that he did, "Ralts. Ralts."

"Thank you for understanding." Victor smiled as he heard his pokemon swear secrecy over it already. "I just don't want humans to know. I may end up end telling a lot of pokemon about them though, that way they can come to me for any help they need."

He stood up straight and stretched his arms, "And if you guys want to get stronger, then you'll have to do more than just battling."

He pointed his fingers at them.

"Ace and Twilight, both of you have strong areas of fighting that can and _will_ be improved upon! Ace uses his feet for attacks, while Twilight uses his acrobatics of flight!"

Victor suddenly brought up a doodle drawing of both Ace and Twilight, with arrows pointing at Ace's legs and feet, while other arrows were pointed at Twilight's wings.

"We're going to improve these parts of you guys so that your attacks become stronger! We gotta have Ace kick harder, and make Twilight fly faster! Make sense?"

Ace looked rather excited. "Scor, scor!"

Twilight nodded. "Rooki."

"Now as for Midori... Evolving into a Gallade means that you'll be stronger in physical attacks, but right now as a Ralts and then as a Kirlia, your Special Attack power should be stronger than just your Physical Attacks..."

Midori stared down at his tiny arms the moment he heard, 'Physical Attacks,' looking quite unsure of himself.

"Don't worry! You won't have to practice punching and all that! For now, getting you more experience in fighting like the other two is fine!" Victor reassured him.

"Scor, Scor..." Ace pointed out.

"Hey, a day in the Wild Area and being in one and a half pokemon battles is more than enough experience!"

"Rookie?" Twilight tilted his head.

"Well, that little thing against Team Yell wasn't really a full battle, so half a battle... or something like that." Victor explained to him.

Ace and Twilight rolled their eyes.

"Not the point! We're all gonna get stronger, including me! So I want to know if you guys are really up to this!?"

Ace smiled, "Scorbunny!"

Twilight, puffed up with pride, "Rookidee!"

Midori nodded and smiled, "Ralts!"

"Good! Then along the trip, be ready for some intense training!" Victor gave them a proud thumbs up. "For now, let's get some sleep!"

* * *

**~{Marnie's Room}~**

Marnie sat cross-legged on her bed, wearing some white pajamas as her favorite pokemon and lifelong companion, Morpeko, stared at her as she went through her Rotom phone while deep in her thoughts.

"Those guys today..." She mumbled. "They were a pretty interestin' group..."

Her mind went back to the sight of Sonia, Hop, Gloria, and Victor, all together.

"They seemed to really get along with each other, I wish I had some people like that..."

Morpeko stared up, confused at that claim. "Mor? Mor?"

Marnie noticed her pokemon's look and knew what she was thinking. "I mean, I got you, Team Yell, Piers, and all... but they get loud and can't talk to me without bringing one of them banners... Where do they even get those?"

Victor's words echoed in her head.

_"We'll get along! We'll be great friends, I promise!!"_

She let herself fall back, so her head landed on her pillow.

Marnie hugged another pillow.

"I'd like that... Having my first friends outside of Spikemuth."

Morpeko smiled.

* * *

**~{Next Morning-10:23AM}~**

"This is it! Today is the day that my legend finally begins!" Hop shouted with a fist up in the air.

Hop, Gloria, and Victor all stood beside each other in the lobby of the Budew Inn.

"You guys sleep well? We've got quite a day ahead of us." Victor smiled as Ace and Ralts stretched their arms and Twilight shook his feathers.

"I'm ready! Let's get going!" Gloria told them excitingly.

"But, where's Sonia?" Hop asked as he saw no sign of the young adult.

"She didn't have a room here because she isn't a gym challenger, remember? So she had to sleep somewhere else. She's probably continuing to research the legends like she said." Victor speculated.

"Then let's meet her at the gym! Race you there!!" Hop suddenly bolted down the lobby and out the door.

"Geez, that bloke's so impatient, we don't even know if she's gonna be there..." Gloria sighed as Luna walked beside her.

Luna glanced at Midori as the male Ralts tried stretching his tiny arms. Midori caught sight of her glance and turned curiously to her, to which Luna nervously waved.

Midori smiled and waved back right.

Victor turned to his three pokemon, "Sorry guys, we can't have our pokemon out during the opening ceremony, so you're gonna have to be in your pokeballs for a bit."

Victor's three pokemon simply nodded in understanding right before he returned them.

"Huh? We can't... Have them out?" Gloria turned to Luna, who looked rather nervous upon hearing that. "Er..."

"You're scared of what's in the pokeball?" Victor asked as he crouched down to Luna.

Luna nodded nervously.

"Oh, don't worry about it. It's really not bad." Victor gave her a reassuring smile.

Luna didn't look too sure about it, remaining silent for a few seconds.

Victor leaned closer and whispered, "Don't worry, I can tell."

"..." Luna turned to Gloria, then nodding to her rather nervously.

"Sorry, Luna, I'll bring you out later!" Gloria apologized as she returned her into her pokeball.

"U-Um..."

Victor and Gloria turned to the voice and saw the same girl from yesterday, Marnie, walking up to them while holding her Morpeko in her arms.

"G-Good mornin'."

"Good morning Marnie!" Victor immediately answered in an even more cheerful mood.

Gloria immediately pouted at Victor's sudden growth in excitement.

Victor walked over to Marnie and slightly crouched to get close to Morpeko.

"Hey, little guy!" He reached his hand to pet her, but Morpeko frowned with sparks of electricity sparking on her cheeks threateningly.

Victor paused for a moment as he noticed this.

"Erm, sorry. She ain't good with strangers. J-Just don't stay close..." Marnie warned him.

Morpeko noticed some embarrassment in her trainer and remembered what she had said last night.

_"I'd like that... Having my first friends outside of Spikemuth."_

Realizing that her hostility could keep his trainer from making friends with these trainers, she reluctantly tilted his head down to offer it. "Mor...Peko"

"Eh?" Marnie was surprised that her pokemon offered herself.

Victor smiled and got close, then gently patting the pokemon on her head.

He then leaned forward and whispered, "We'll be good friends with her. Thank you for your consideration."

Morpeko glanced up, astonished that Victor knew what she was thinking.

"Now, let's go to the Motostoke Gym together and introduce ourselves to the world!" Victor shouted with a fist in the air.

"Me too?" Marnie asked in surprise.

"Of course!" Victor turned to her proudly, "There's no reason not to have you with us!"

"Um... Thanks." Marnie shyly responded as she hugged Morpeko tighter.

Morpeko glanced up at her trainer with a smile.

* * *

**~{Motostoke Gym Lobby}~**

"How do I look?" Victor asked as he came out of the locker room in a new outfit.

This outfit was the official gym uniform for the gym challenge. His whole outfit consisted of white, even the partly red sports shoes he had on. On the back of his long uniform and shorts were the bold, black numbers of **658** on it. He felt somewhat awkward without the gray beanie Hop had given him so long ago.

"Looking good!" Hop grinned to him. On the back of his shirt and on his white shorts was the number **189** on it.

"A-Are the shorts supposed to be this... short?" Marnie whimpered as she gazed on at her mostly exposed legs with the number **960** visible.

"Argh, I'm gonna punch whoever thought this was okay!" Gloria growled, the number **4** imprinted on her white gym clothes.

Victor stared around at the room filled with gym challengers wearing the same uniform as them, but with different numbers.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw several people's numbers.

_"420, 69, 21... Why do so many people have the same numbers?"_

Victor then caught sight of a familiar, platinum-haired boy with the number **908** on his white gym clothes. It was the same boy that had glared at Victor when he had first entered the stadium.

He smiled as he walked over to him.

"Hello there!"

The boy turned his head and narrowed his eyes at him with a scoff. "Don't bother me. I have no time for those less important than myself."

"Excuse me?" Victor already had a bad feeling about him.

"Why don't you clear off and try not to talk to me again, would you?" The boy rudely added.

Victor crossed his arms with a frown. "Hey now, we're all here to take the challenge. What makes you think you're more important than anyone else here?"

To that question, the boy formed a smirk and grazed through his hair. "I was endorsed by the chairman himself. In other words, among all those elite enough to get an endorsement, I'm the most elite of all."

Victor raised an eyebrow. "You were endorsed by the chairman? As in, Chairman Rose?"

"Hmph, indeed. So you should realize the larger gap between us."

Instead of getting angry, Victor just put a hand on his head with a look of confusion.

"Man, what could have the chairman been drinking at the time?"

Cross-veins of irritation emerged on the boy's head.

"Why you-! Don't insult the chairman like that!" He growled.

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that was more of an insult to you." Victor said with a straight face.

The boy looked angry but turned his head away to calm himself.

"Hmph, it doesn't matter. The chairman recognized me for this challenge. Therefore I'm the most important here."

"Yeah, yeah, you said that already." Victor waved unimpressed. "But..."

He put a hand on his chin as he muttered aloud.

"If you being endorsed by the chairman makes you the most important, then wouldn't my two friends and I being endorsed by the champion mean... We're the strongest?"

The boy turned back and glared at Victor with challenging eyes.

"You best choose your next words carefully. Otherwise, you and your pokemon might end up getting a beating."

Victor grinned, "Sure! I'd love to fight against you some time!"

_"What's with this guy!?"_ The boy got more annoyed by the second.

But before anything could happen, two pairs of arms grabbed Victor and dragged him back.

"Eh? Eh!?" Victor glanced left and right and saw Hop and Gloria pulling him with firm expressions.

Seeing him getting dragged away, the boy turned his head away with his fists clenched. "Hmph... Hopefully, you'll realize how pointless it is for you to be here."

_"Man, what's with him?"_ Victor wondered as he got pulled far enough for Hop and Gloria to let him go while Marnie's expression looked rather cold to the boy they just got away from.

"Hey Victor, you alright?" Hop asked with a concerned gaze.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be? Did you guys really have to drag me away?" Victor asked, visibly confused.

"Sorry, I just had a bad feeling about that guy. I ran into him earlier, and he was a _real_ piece of work." Hop explained.

"Same. I don't like him..." Gloria growled as she glared over in the boy's direction.

Marnie had a cold expression towards him. 

Oh wait, that was probably her natural look.

Victor just turned back to him, watching the boy remain all by himself while everyone else seemed to avoid him.

_"But he seems... pretty lonely, doesn't he? I wonder..."_

"Attention, everyone! The opening ceremony is starting! Be ready to walk out in a moment!" One of the League Staff shouted.

Victor decided to push that thought out for now and smiled beside his three friends.

"You guys ready?"

"Hell yeah!" Hop shouted with a fist in the air.

"Of course." Gloria grinned.

Marnie simply nodded.

"Alright then..." Victor adjusted the glove on his hand. 

"Let's do this."

* * *

**~{Motostoke Stadiumn-11:01AM}~**

The roars of the audience filled the stadium with noise. Over thousands of people filled the seats of the bleachers, every single one of them excited to see the ceremony take place.

In the middle of the stadium stood a proud man with his female assistant by his side. Chairman Rose waved at the cheering crowd happily, then adjusting the small mic on him.

"Ladies and gentlemen! I am Rose, president of Macro Cosmos and chairman of the Pokemon League!" His voice echoed in the stadium speakers.

He waved a hand at everyone as he kept speaking.

"I know that everyone gathered here, and everyone watching from home have all been waiting for this big moment!"

He stuck both hands in the air.

"It is my pleasure to announce that finally- the Galar region Gym Challenge will now begin!"

Cheers rang and many of the audience had their hands in the air too.

"Participants must defeat the eight gym leaders and gather the eight gym badges to prove their skills as a trainer! Only then will they be worthy enough to have the chance to compete in the Pokemon League!"

He stuck his hand in the air.

"HOWEVER! As you know, our champion isn't just the champion of Galar, but of the entire _world_ ! And Galar's Pokemon League isn't just like any other region. Our league is also the Pokemon _World_ League!!"

He put his hands behind his back and started pacing around.

"Our league takes hundreds of trainers from not just Galar, but from all over the world and sets them against each other one by one! And the _one_ trainer on top of all other trainers will go up against the current champion with the chance to become the _new_ World Champion!"

He waved a hand over everyone.

"As mentioned before, Galar's Gym Challengers will be among these in the league if they successfully complete the Gym Challenge, but overall, there are a variety of ways for a person to qualify to take part in our enormous World League!"

He turned to different groups of the crowd.

"You _must_ be at least _one_ of the following-!"

On the large screens projected a list as Rose stuck a finger in the air said them out loud.

"One, a Pokemon Champion!"

He held up two fingers.

"Two, an Elite Four member!"

Three fingers.

"Three, a Gym Leader!"

He finally held up four fingers.

"Or four, someone who has completed a Gym Challenge and have the badges to prove it! Or in Alola's case, have completed the Island Trails and have the Z-crystals of each one!"

He lowered his hand and rubbed his mustache.

"You can be any one of these, from any region, including here at Galar! Only then can you enter the Pokemon World League when the time comes!"

He clapped his hands together.

"Thousands of trainers have even come from all over the world in an effort order to face our great champion! We've even seen many famous faces around here!! Gym leaders such as the fighting type expert Korrina from Kalos, Elite Four members such as Lance from Kanto, and even the Hoenn Region's champion, Steven Stone! All of these amazing trainers have come, but all that have made it to the top have failed to bring down our champion!"

He was practically bragging about Leon at that point.

"If you search around Galar, I believe that you may even see some of these foreign trainers! Whether they're just hanging around or training for the next upcoming league!" 

He winked to the audience as he said that.

Chairman Rose's secretary, Oleana, whispered to him, making Rose's face light up.

"Oh, it seems that I'm getting off track! Although Galar is the center for the World League, we still have our own Gym Challenge to give those that live here the chance to partake in said league! So now, without further ado, I would like to invite out the proud gym leaders of the Galar region to show themselves to the world once more!"

On cue, seven shadows starting walking into the bright light of the arena, each person revealing his/her colors that matched the typing he/she was an expert in.

Chairman Rose introduced them one by one.

"The fighting farmer! Here's the grass type-expert, Milo!" 

He said as a buff looking man with a large farmer hat, green shorts, and a white t-shirt with a leaf design waved to everyone.

"The raging wave! It's the master of Water types, Nessa!"

A beautiful, mature dark-skinned woman with long, mixed blue colored hair wearing a gym uniform consisting of a white crop top and shorts with blue and orange blew a kiss at the crowd.

"The ever building man of fire! Here comes the fire-type veteran, Kabu!"

An older-looking man wearing a red polo shirt and white shorts along with a towel around his neck proudly marched on the field.

"The Galar karate prodigy! Nobody's better with fighting types than Bea!"

A slender, fit girl with tan skin and grey eyes marched with a rather intense stare straight ahead, showing an unwavering spirit. She had a skintight black bodysuit that seemed to show an imprint of her abs and had a white and orange uniform that resembled a karate uniform.

"The master of a fantastic theater! It's the charming fairy type user, Opal!"

An elderly woman with gray hair, a pointy nose, and a hunched back carefully walked onto the stadium wearing pink and blue color schemed clothes.

"The ice-cole professional! Please welcome the ice-type master, Melony!"

A woman with blue eyes and long, greyish blue hair wearing thick clothes for cold weather waved at everyone cheerfully.

"And last but not least, the tamer of dragons! It's Raihan, the top gym leader of Galar!"

A dark-skinned man wearing a dragon-designed uniform took selfies of himself while waving at the crowd with a broad grin.

"Unfortunately, we're missing one, but these are the gym leaders that we in the Galar region are proud to call our own!"

All the trainers stood in a straight line right in the middle of the arena.

"And now..." Chairman wave pointed a hand at another opening of the arena. "Please welcome our new and promising gym challengers of Galar!!"

From the shadows of the arena entrance, one person marched into the light first.

Victor had an unwavering gaze as he proudly marched into the stadium rather quickly. But not even a second after walking in, dozens upon dozens of other trainers walked into the stadium after him.

The world seemed to move in slow motion for him as he felt the gazes of cameras hitting him. He could feel that he was being watched, but not by just the gazes from the audience themselves, but by a gaze of hostility.

He found one of the cameras watching him and the other challengers, to which Victor glared at it.

_"That's right... I'm here."_

The fighting type gym leader, Bea, suddenly felt a fierce, dangerous feeling of pressure coming from someone. She turned her head, but as quick as the feeling came, it had also left as fast, and all she saw was Victor's innocent smile gazing up at everyone.

_"Odd... I could swear I felt someone dangerous..."_ She glanced around to see if there was anyone that looked threatening enough to have given off that feeling.

"Wow, look at all those people!" Hop shouted as he waved at everyone.

Victor's eyes scanned the audience, staring at lines upon lines of people. He didn't see anyone that looked to be staring directly at him specifically, now did he see anyone making too much of an effort to hide any features of themselves. He didn't see anyone with any evil grins or dangerous eyes, but he knew... He just knew someone like that was watching.

He took a deep breath, knowing fully well what to expect in the future.

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-???}**

"Yes, I know... I'm watching it right now." 

A man sat alone in a dark room whose only source of light was the computer monitor projecting the opening ceremony of Galar right in front of him. He sat cross-legged in his professional black suit while holding a phone up to his ear with a rather big smile.

"Indeed I do see him... I wonder if he traveled there to grow stronger, or if he's lived there up until now?" The man chuckled.

He listened to a muffled voice over the phone, tapping his fingers on the table as he listened.

He formed a frown.

"Of course not. Don't go after him in public like that. Remember, I want to make sure his abilities don't get out. If his mother is as reasonable as we believe, then no one else besides her and the boy should know about his abilities. But in the case that there is someone else with some kind of knowledge of the boy's abilities... then you know what to do."

The man grinned as he listened to the person on the other side of the call ask something.

"Well, we finally know where he is, after so many years of being hidden... I could hardly believe that they were able to accomplish that. But then the boy just comes out on his own? He's either foolishly naive, or he's gotten a grasp on his powers and is confident on what he can do against anyone."

The man stopped tapping his fingers.

"But judging by that look he gave to the camera... I think it's the latter."

A nervous mumbling of words came from the other side, making the man sigh.

"We _need_ him. We haven't been able to replicate anything ever since the doctor's research was destroyed. So all of you must do everything in your power to capture him. Naturally, my strongest subordinates and I will be coming over there, so prepare for our arrival."

There were a few more nervous mumbles about the man coming over.

"Send men to try and fetch the boy when he's alone, I want to see just how much he's grown. It would be pathetic for him to lose to some grunts. Test him and make sure the men you send have cameras on them. That is all."

He hung up the phone and gently placed it down as he stared at Victor glaring at the cameras, a gaze challenging those who were looking for him.

The man grinned again.

"So, we'll finally be able to meet again..."

He happily recalled a lab where he watched a young boy sitting in a large tube of glass, curiously glancing around at the people around him. He remembered the boy's mother rushing into the room, asking what they were all doing. Then the boy saw his mother and smiled, suddenly vanishing from the tube and appearing right in his mother's arms.

Right there, a breakthrough was made. After years of research, a breakthrough had been made on a four-year-old boy. There was no time wasted to continue testing. More tests were done with his mother present, having an easier influence on making the boy bring out more power. There was even talk of replicating others to be like him.

But then that day happened, the day he escaped. 

_"I'd be disappointed if you can't take down the first wave that comes at you... We didn't create a warrior that would get taken down easily by some mere goons. Show me... Show just how much power I can look forward to using."_

The man started quietly laughing.

"This will be _very_ interesting, indeed."

He slightly turned in his chair, the light of the monitor reflecting off a faint **R** with rainbow colors.

* * *

**~{Post Opening Ceremony-11:30AM}~**

"There were really no words for it, but... I can barely contain myself! My heart's racing!! Hop shouted in the lobby back in his usual clothes.

"Yeah, I was really nervous seeing all those people staring at us." Gloria agreed.

"I thought it felt great. To have so many people watchin' you. To show them who was gonna be beatin' all of them in the future." Marnie voiced her opinion.

Victor was still thinking with his head down, thinking about the consequences of leaving his safe home and wondering about the dangers to come.

"What did you think Victor?" Gloria asked with a smile.

The boy mentioned didn't even seem to acknowledge she said anything, he just stared down into his hand, wondering if he could fight off whoever comes next.

Gloria noticed his stern expression, and her smile faded. "Victor, ya alright?"

Victor blinked and registered that he was being spoken to, then turning to Gloria with an awkward smile.

"Er, sorry, what was that? I was too busy thinking about my future fights."

Before Gloria could answer him, a new voice was heard.

"Hey! You guys looked great out there!"

They turned around and saw the champion himself grinning as he walked to their group with Chairman Rose beside him.

"Oh, hey Lee! Of course, we looked great! It's _us_ , after all!" Hop proudly pointed out.

Chairman Rose approached the group and observed Hop, Gloria, and Victor.

"So, you're the three trainers our champion endorsed himself?" He then turned to Marnie. "Ah, and as I recall from Piers, he was the one who endorsed you for this challenge, correct?"

Marnie nervously nodded.

Chairman Rose clapped his hands with an innocent smile, "Welcome, and it's a delight to meet all of you! I have no doubt you know me, Rose, of course. And I daresay that this year's gym challengers are looking like an absolute blast! I'm sure the Galar Region can't wait for such excitement!"

"I'll give the people that excitement! I'll become the champion and have everyone cheering for me!" Hop declared with a fist in the air.

"Oho! The champion's younger brother sure has the same spirit as our current champion, I look forward to it Hop!" Rose laughed. "I expect the same spirit from the rest of you!"

"We'll give it our best shot!" Gloria reassured him with a grin.

Victor adjusted his beanie with a smirk, "We'll make this a challenge no one will ever forget!"

"I sure do hope so. But for now, I'm terribly sorry, but there is some business I must attend to, so I'll be on my way! Best of luck to all of you!"

"Thank you." Marnie nodded in appreciation.

The chairman gave one last polite bow to the group before heading on his way.

Leon put his hands on his hips and smiled. "So, you'll all be heading to Turffield next, right? Are you all gonna go together?"

"Nope!" Victor immediately declared with a smile.

"EH!?" Hop, Gloria, and even Marnie uttered out.

"What?" Victor turned back to them, confused. "We can't get stronger if we keep sticking together, right? Wouldn't we be slowing each other down, waiting for one another? And I'm sure we all have our own methods of training."

"Well, I mean..." Gloria looked disappointed.

"I understand! I'll show you how much stronger I can get!" Hop declared.

"That's more like it!" Another voice spoke.

They turned and saw Sonia come towards them.

"Oh, hey Sonia!" Victor smiled at her presence.

"Hey, guys! I saw all of you at the ceremony. You all looked pretty cool!" She then turned to Marnie. "So, in the end, you guys become friends already?"

"Yup!" Victor didn't hesitate.

This made Marnie feel oddly happy to be acknowledged as a friend so fast.

"I hope you all take care of each other in the future!" Sonia smiled. "Especially adorable Marnie here."

Marnie lightly blushed at being called adorable, "I'm not really..."

"Oh yes, you are." Sonia teased. "Victor, isn't that true?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt." He bluntly responded with a straight face.

"EH!?" Marnie turned from pale to red in no time.

"Oh, how I love how honest you are!" Sonia laughed.

"Thank you, I try my best! But anyway, we should get going. I wanna get in some hours of training in the Wild Area!" Victor moved on while smiling.

Gloria felt highly irritated, "V-Victor! Ya can't just say something like that!!"

"Say what? Getting in training hours?" Victor asked with an eyebrow raised.

Sonia covered her mouth to muffle a laugh.

"No ya dunce! C-Calling a girl adorable!" Gloria pointed out.

Meanwhile, Marnie somewhat shivered with a flushed face.

Victor blinked for a moment, before making hand movements to point at Sonia, "I mean, _technically_ , I didn't call her cute. Sonia did, all _I_ did was agree with her."

Hop nodded with his hands on his hips. "He's got a point."

"Quiet you."

"Yes, ma'am." Hop casually backed away from Gloria.

In truth, Gloria wasn't really mad at Victor for not being 'considerate' of what he was saying, she was mostly just jealous.

"Don't you think you think she's cute Gloria?" Victor grinned.

"Eh? Of course no-!" As she said this, she turned to Marnie, who was still slightly red and looking down rather embarrassed. Both tufts of hair on her head were actually fluttering like cat ears.

"I CAN'T SAY SHE'S NOT!" Gloria fell to the ground and repeatedly bashed the ground with her fist while turning red.

"Ah, she was defeated." Leon chuckled.

Marnie was unsure what to make of the whole situation, only trying to calm herself down.

_"Team Yell's never called me cute before... I think only Piers has ever said it..."_

She suddenly saw a phone being offered to her, looking up to see Victor with a confident smile.

"I hope we can stay in contact."

"Same!" Hop pulled out his own phone. "We should all share numbers!"

"That does make sense. I, for one, would love to get to know you, Marnie!" Sonia said with a clap of her hands.

"Any friend of the Postwick trio is a friend of mine!" Leon grinned as he pulled out a Rotom Phone with advertisements on it.

Gloria was still on the ground but shakily pulled her phone from her pocket and raised it up. "H-H-Here..."

Marnie looked rather surprised to see everyone offering their contacts to her, but she could also feel a warm feeling in her heart. Theirs smiles towards her, besides Gloria on the floor, were all genuine.

_"This... This feels nice."_ The girl thought as she timidly pulled out her own phone.

They all happily shared numbers, to which afterword, Leon adjusted his cap and grinned.

"If you kids ever need anything, then give me a call! I'll come faster than a Barraskewda using Aqua Jet! Until then, good luck!" Leon saluted the group before proceeding to run outside of the stadium.

"Then I guess I'll head out too, those legends aren't gonna search for themselves." Sonia smiled. But before she left, she reached over, removed Victor's beanie, and gently caressed the boy's head. "I'll see you later."

Victor stared up at her, "Is this just gonna be a thing now?"

"Perhaps."

"Nice." Victor grinned.

Gloria's eye twitched while Marnie curiously wondered how getting patted like that felt like. 

"Alright! I'm gonna beat Turffield gym first to officially start my streak of victory! I'll see you all later!" Hop dashed away from the group with his flaming excitement emitting of him.

Sonia placed Victor's beanie back on and proceed to walk away, "Until the next town, maybe!!"

That left Victor with the two females left, but he knew where he was going to go.

He turned to Marnie and Gloria.

"I wish you both good luck."

"Yeah..." Marnie actually looked somewhat disappointed that she was already getting separated from the group. This was something that didn't go unnoticed.

"Sorry, I know we just met, and I would've like to get to know you better, so let's promise to meet up later!" Victor suggested.

Marnie's face seemed to get a little flustered. "I'd... like that."

_"I don't."_ Gloria thought with a small glare at thinking about a dangerously cute girl being alone with Victor.

"I'll see you later too, Gloria! I can't wait to see how much stronger you get!" Victor opened his arms and hugged her, making the girl's irritation subside and be replaced with a new feeling of warmth.

Her head erupted with steam.

"Wha-Wha-!? U-Um... Th-Thanks..." The girl muttered as she hugged the boy back despite shaking.

Marnie tilted her head curiously.

_"Do close friends hug each other like that?"_

* * *

**~{Rolling Fields: Clear Weather-1:12PM}~**

"Midori! Use Disarming Voice!"

The Ralts opened its mouth and let out a heart-shaped cry.

"Onix!!" The large pokemon in front of them used Iron Tail to cut right through the attack.

"Ember on the eyes!"

"Score!" Ace formed a ball of fire at his feet and kicked it up fast, aiming it directly into the Onix's eyes.

The Onix surprisingly ducked fast and avoided the projectile, then slamming the ground and causing sharp stones to erupt into a barrage towards the rabbit pokemon.

"Twilight! Save Ace!"

"Rooki!" Twilight dived down quickly and snatched Ace by the arms right before the Stone Edge could ravage him, carrying up in the air.

Ace then grinned as he looked up at Twilight.

"Bun! Bun!"

Twilight looked surprised. "Rooki?"

Ace nodded.

Twilight then flew in a loop de loop and used the momentum to fling Ace right towards the Onix.

"Scorbunny!" Ace let out a battle cry as it went right to Onix's head and performed two mighty kicks, each one making Onix visibly wince in pain while being knocked back.

As the Onix was dazed, Twilight used the chance to circle around and charge straight in with his beak, unleashing a fury of attacks that repeatedly jabbed Onix on the head.

_"Ace learned Double Kick while Twilight learned Fury Attack! Nice!"_ Victor grinned.

He pointed his finger.

"Midori! Finish it off with Confusion!"

Midori put his tiny hands on his head, which proceeded to glow a light purple.

"Ralts!" He then fired a purple ball of light right towards Onix, intending on hitting him directly on his body.

But the Onix's eyes snapped open in anger.

"ONIX!" It raised its tail up and swung it down, actually smacking through the ball of psychic energy and slamming the ground, using Stone Edge to cause several larger jagged stones to be sent in all directions.

"Rooki?!"

"Scor!?"

"Ralts!?"

The three pokemon ended up caught in flying debris of the Earth and were sent backward, all of them tumbling along the ground.

Victor clapped his hands.

"Alrighty! That's enough!"

His three pokemon got off the ground dizzy.

Onix shook its body and look annoyed, still feeling lingering pain by Ace's Double Kick.

Victor first rushed up to Onix with a potion and a few berries. "Thanks for letting them train against you."

Onix grumbled as it lowered its head to allow Victor to spray the potion on the mark caused by Ace's Double Kick. As he did this, Onix glared at him.

"Don't worry, don't worry, I got more sweets." Victor reassured him.

Onix then closed his eyes and just rested on the ground.

After tending to him, Victor went to his own pokemon.

"You guys, alright?"

"Scoooooooor..." Ace sarcastically answered while sprawled on the ground.

"Well, if you're fine, then I guess you don't need these potions..."

"Scor! Bun! Bun! Bun!" Ace jumped up and apologized with comedic tears in his eyes.

"Heh, sorry. Couldn't resist." Victor answered as he sprayed his team's bruises with a few potions and gave them some berries.

"Now then..." He reached into his wallet and pulled out Sonia's league card, turning it over to glance at her four pokemon. "She already has Yamper, so where do the other three appear...?"

He took out his Pokedex and started searching this up.

He first searched up Ninetails but was shocked to know that its official habitat was unknown, if there was one at all.

"Damn, that makes things complicated... I wonder if it hangs around the same areas that its pre-evolution does?" He searched up Vulipix's habitat instead but didn't find it to be better.

"They're up in the more dangerous parts of the Wild Area? Like the Dusty Bowl and Giant's Mirror? Damn, that's so far... And I can't even go there yet, it's too dangerous at my level, even if _I_ can defend myself pretty well."

He searched up Milotic, but found no habitat on it as well. The pokemon was one of the hardest to find and was rather rare to even see.

"Sonia really let something that beautiful go...?"

He finally searched up Meowstic and found that the only place it was seen in the Wild Area was at the Dusty Bowl, but it could also be found out of the Wild Area in Route 7.

"Well, even if it's not guaranteed that they're there... These are the best places to look."

He stood back up and walked over to the now resting Onix.

"Onix, have you ever seen a Meowstic, Milotic, or Ninetails come anywhere around here?"

Onix uncaringly shook its head, not even bothering to open his eyes.

"I see... Well, thank you anyway."

He sat down on the ground beside the large pokemon and stared off in the distance, his eyes watching the beautiful landscape of fields and tall grass. The Wild Area was large, spreading farther than the eye can see with several different landscapes depending on which large area you were at. Even though the area looked large now, Victor knew that it'd be even once he goes to the later areas. If it wasn't for him being able to use Agility to travel faster, he couldn't explore as much as he wanted.

He took notice of all his surroundings. Other than the several wild pokemon passing by and paying no mind to his group, Victor knew that it was just him, his pokemon, and the Onix beside him.

Or so he thought.

He narrowed his eyes as he felt a disturbance. "We're being surrounded. Be calm, don't make any sudden movements."

Lying on the ground, Ace opened one eye, and his ears twitched to pick up any noises.

Twilight narrowed his eyes as he slowly scooted towards Victor.

Midori remained close to Victor looking nervous.

Onix opened an eye suspiciously.

"Onix, you don't want to be captured or be around humans, right?"

Onix growled. 

"Then listen to me. On my cue, use Stone Edge like before to send rubble in all directions.

Onix's tail slowly moved behind him, already ready to do so.

Everything was momentarily silent, only the sound of the breeze filling their ears. The group listened to every sound of nature and anything hinting to movement.

Ace's ear twitched, and Victor's eyes became wide open as they heard several projectiles pierce through the air.

"NOW!"

He grabbed Ace and Ralts before leaping to the air, with Twilight taking flight upward with him.

With Victor and his pokemon out of the way, Onix slammed its tail to the ground, using Stone Edge to cause several stones to erupt all around him.

The flying stones intercepted several projectiles aimed at them. From gusts of wind, Shadow Balls, and sharp leaves having been aimed right at them.

Victor landed right on top of Onix's head, Ace and Midori hanging onto his arms while Twilight perched itself on top of Onix's stone spike.

The area was now covered in dust, yet Victor was able to make out several silhouettes of humans and their pokemon getting closer.

One of Victor's hands tightly held onto Onix's spike.

"I didn't think they'd show up so soon..."

He opened his other palm, where some winds started to pick up around him.

"But let's see who we're dealing with."


	9. A Colorful Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Any comments, questions, suggestions, or feedback in general would be very much appreciated! It lets me know if I'm doing anything right!

"Defog."

Victor produced strong winds from his hands that blew away the clouds of dust surrounding him.

What he saw was several males and females with menacing grins all staring at him. Every one of them wore a black outfit consisting of black shirts, pants, and caps. Along with this were big gray boots and gray belts where these people had their pokeballs attached.

But what was the most eye-catching about their outfits were bright  ** R ** 's on their chests shining with a rainbow color.

Victor's eyes widened in a mixture of fear and confusion, "Wait, aren't you guys-!?"

He didn't even get to finish as three of these attackers didn't hesitate to command their pokemon.

"Beedrill, use Pin Missile!"

"Crobat, use Air Cutter!"

"Garbodor, use Sludge Bomb!"

The three pokemon unleashed their attacks directly at Onix's head where Victor stood.

"Whoa!" Victor and his pokemon all jumped off while Onix just glared at the group and use Iron Tail, swinging his massive tail and swiping it through all three attacks easily.

_ "Good thing Onix's Iron Tail has an advantage against all three of those attacks."  _ Victor thought as he landed on the ground.

"Hydro Pump!"

"Wait, hold on!" Victor shouted as he ducked under an intense stream of water from a Starmie

_ "These pokemon aren't from this region!!" _ Victor realized as he took note of the pokemon attacking him.

"Scor! Scor!" Ace kicked a small ball of fire right at a Beedrill and directly hit it, yet that just seemed to make the pokemon pissed. The rabbit pokemon struggled to jump and dodge several pokemon coming at him, not even able to counteract.

Twilight flew in the sky, dodging several projectiles and beak attacks from other flying pokemon, but visibly struggling as the already evolved flying pokemon were faster than him.

Midori was still clutching Victor's arm, looking somewhat nervous. He actually hadn't even fought in an official trainer battle yet, besides blasting Team Yell's pokemon away, so this type of spectacle was overwhelming for him. He didn't know what to do besides holding onto Victor as he jumped around.

Even the Onix was having trouble against several of these pokemon that were aiming all their attacks at his massive body. 

"Onix!!" The large pokemon once again, using Iron Tail to swipe at several incoming attacks, but a Hydro Pump hit him directly and caused him to tumble back.

Victor grit his teeth as he slid to a stop on the ground, noticing how much trouble his stage one pokemon had against so many already evolved pokemon.

"Fine." He growled.

He jumped out of the way of a Flamethrower, peeling Midori off his arm while in the air and placing him on the back of his head.

"Hold on tight buddy, I'll take care of this."

Razor Leaves, a Shadow Ball, and another Flamethrower came at him the moment he landed on the ground.

To which he raised his arms up, "Protect!"

A barrier formed in front of him and took all these attacks, protecting Midori and himself as the boy took a deep breath and planned ahead.

Once letting the barrier die down, he got into a crouching position while glaring at the pokemon ahead.

"Agility."

He vanished on the spot.

The group of attackers were shocked, "Be careful, he-!"

The male didn't finish as multiple flashes of light occurred, and the next thing they group new, a chunk of their pokemon were on the ground in pain.

Victor then appeared on top of one of these unconscious pokemon. Midori held onto his head in a piggyback fashion, while his trainer held a bruised and tired Ace in his arms. 

"Scor... Scor..." Ace panted.

"You alright?" Victor asked him.

Ace nodded, relieved that he got some help against that large group.

Midori then jumped off Victor and onto the ground, looking up at him with a newfound spark to fight, no longer looking conflicted on what to do.

Ace struggled in Victor's arms before jumping off and landing to the ground, still looking pumped up to fight.

"Are you sure?"

"Scor! Bun!" Ace mimicked boxer punches, still eager to knock something down.

One of the attackers growled, "Tsk! This kid really is a monster!"

"I take offense to that!" Victor shouted angrily as he pointed at that member.

"Rooki-!!" He heard his pokemon cry in the sky.

Victor glanced up and saw Twilight get knocked out of the air by a Crobat's Air Cutter, making him spiraling down towards the ground.

"Take care of each other!" Victor shouted to Ace and Midori as he got into a sprinters stance.

"Agility!"

He once again disappeared from speed, running past several pokemon and even kicking a few on the way of saving his Rookidee. He then appeared under his falling pokemon, catching him in his arms.

Yet Victor was panting hard, feeling his body shaking.

_ "Damn... Any stat pumping move really takes bigger chunks of my stamina... I guess that's why pokemon can't repeatedly use the same stat changing moves during battle." _

"Go get them!" The leading male attacker shouted, prompting the flying pokemon in the sky to dive down after Victor.

The boy snapped out of his thoughts and looked up, narrowing his eyes and holding Twilight in his arm while placing his other palm on the ground.

"Gravity."

A black wave of aura spread around the area, to which the flying pokemon visibly shook in the air before all of them were forcefully dragged to the ground, each of them crashing down and kicking up dust.

Victor then stopped, seeing that it also affected him and his pokemon to feel heavier.

"Phew, that could really strain my body... Humans aren't really suited to suddenly take increases of gravity compared to pokemon..."

He then placed Twilight down on the ground, checking if he was able to stand. "You alright?"

The proud pokemon ruffled his feathers looking rather angry, "Rookie! Rookie!"

Victor didn't look amused. " _ Suuuuuuure,  _ you had them."

"ONIX!!"

He turned his head and saw Onix cornered by several water types, damp spots all over his body from taking many water type attacks but still looking as furious as before.

"Distract the remaining pokemon here!" Victor shouted as he blasted off towards Onix.

Ace continuously kicked balls of Ember and Midori blasted Disarming Voices at the remaining pokemon, while Twilight tried to take flight, but fell as he was unable to fly from the pain in his wings.

His two friends made sure to stay close, fending off any assailants that came near.

"Rooki... Rooki."

"Scor, Scor!" Ace smiled at him.

Meanwhile, Onix glared at the water type pokemon as he raised his tail, panting as he tried to get over the considerate disadvantage he had.

"Slowbro, Water Gun!!"

"Starmie, Hydro Pump!"

"Toxipex, Scald!!"

All three pokemon blasted water right towards the Onix, the large pokemon preparing to take it.

Instead, Victor leaped into the air and his arms started shining in a bright green color that covered them.

"Leaf Blades!"

He started spinning rapidly in the air like a top, getting right in the concentrated path of the water attacks and dispelling them away while heading directly towards the attacking pokemon.

After a few more flashes of white with the sound of slicing, Victor was now behind the water pokemon with them scattered on the floor.

He took a deep breath, then turning to the Onix.

"You alright?"

Onix just swung his Iron Tail and heavily smacked away a Starmie and Raticate. "Onix, Onix!"

"Aw, you're welcome!" Victor happily returned.

He then turned to a large number of remaining trainers with pokemon beside them.

The glowing green colors around Victor's arms slowly faded away before his hands changed into the purple glow of Shadow Claws.

"Looks like if I wanna ask any questions..."

"GET HIM!!" the leading attacker shouted desperately to the others.

Victor formed a glare with his face partly shadowed.

"We'ree gonna have to get rid of the obstacles."

* * *

** ~{Turffield-Cake Shop}~ **

"Good to see you on such short notice, Sonia."

"It's good to see you too, Nessa!"

"Shhh! Not too loud! I don't want to be chased out by fans again."

Sonia sat across one of her childhood friends, Nessa, the beautiful and popular Water-type gym leader and professional model. She was currently in disguise in a small, Milcery themed cake shop in Turffield, wearing extra items such as a black cap, sunglasses, and slightly baggy gray sweater to hide her appearance.

"Heh, heh, sorry." Sonia rubbed the back of her head with a smile.

Both were digging into some rather sweet cakes while catching up on their life so far.

"How's it been, Sonia? It's been a while since we've met up like this."

"Yeah, sorry. I've been studying a lot more than usual to become the pokemon professor. Sometimes I tire myself to the point where I end up sleeping in the lab." Sonia joked.

Nessa rolled her eyes, "Take more care of yourself, Sonia, don't overdo it."

The ginger beauty pouted, "And what about you? Balancing being a gym leader with modeling, you've been getting tired recently, haven't you?"

"Nothing I can't handle." Nessa confidently answered, yet from the way she stabbed her fork into her cake, it looked like she was somewhat stressed out.

"Suuuuuure." It was Sonia's turn to roll her eyes.

Nessa ignored her friend's eye-rolling. "But speaking of work, why are you here in Turffield? I was pretty surprised to call and find you near here."

Sonia smiled as she took out a small notepad of notes. "I've been researching a new project! Some friends from Postwick said that they encountered some never-before-seen pokemon in the Slumbering Weald! You know, that dangerous forest I've told you about?"

"Never before seen pokemon?" She grinned, "Is it a water type?"

"Actually, Victor said that there were two of them, and we don't know what typings they are." Sonia said as she looked through her notes.

Nessa raised a curious eyebrow. "Who's Victor?"

Sonia smiled as she glanced back up at her, "He's someone that's been in Postwick ever since  _ we _ were taking the Gym Challenge ourselves. But he's never actually been out of his house. At least, not until recently when he decided to take the challenge himself."

"Oh? Did you finally find yourself a boyfriend?" Nessa grinned.

Sonia just had an unamused stare at her friend.

Nessa flinched. "Er, what?"

"He's fifteen, and I just met him recently..." Sonia answered with an unamused sigh, spinning her fork with her fingers. "I don't need you saying stuff like that too."

Nessa tilted her head, confused. "Wait, 'too?' Did someone else suggest that he was a boyfriend?"

Sonia leaned back on her chair, "Not exactly... It's more like someone is  _ encouraging _ me to make it like that..."

"Oh? Who?" Nessa was rather curious.

"His mother..." Sonia sweatdropped.

"PFFT!!" Nessa sprayed out a mouthful of coffee to the side, bursting out laughing. "Hahahahaha!!"

"Hey! It's weird, you know!?" Sonia pouted.

"Haha... Phew... well, at least you have her blessing." Nessa giggled, wiping her mouth with her napkin and apologetically gazing at a janitor who came to clean up her spill.

"Oh, goody." Sonia remarked sarcastically.

Nessa calmed her stomach from laugh, taking a bite out of her cake. "But really? His  _ mother _ is actually trying to pair you up with him? I've always heard people confess to you, not try to pair you up with someone else."

Sonia disappointingly nodded, "Yeah... I met Victor's mother in the Pokemon Research Lab when I was ten. She was looking for any books about pokemon and the Galar Region. At the same time, I was also there looking for the same books to help me out with the Gym Challenge. So, of course, she and I ended up talking at one point."

"Huh!? Since you were ten!?!" Nessa basically slapped the table. "I have so many questions! So you knew about Victor for ten years but never even saw him, you only just met him recently,  _ and  _ his mother is encouraging you to go out with him!?"

"Yes, yes, and yes." Sonia casually answered. "She's brought Victor up pretty much every time we've been in the lab. And now she thinks that I'm gonna 'accept' her son or something."

Nessa calmed down and took a sip of her tea, "What made her take a liking to you exactly?"

"I don't really know... Maybe-" Sonia smiled and winked with a peace sign. "-even she was caught up by my good looks?"

"Or  _ maybe-" _ Nessa interjected, "-she knew you'd end up the way you are now. Alone and obsessed with your research without anyone to take care of you. She might've seen her son as a good match for you."

Sonia sighed, "I repeatedly told her that I'm not interested... He really is a nice kid and all, but I'm really trying my best to becoming a professor. I think a boyfriend would just get in the way of that."

"Oh? So if it weren't for that, you'd go out with him?" Nessa teased.

"I didn't say that." Sonia quickly corrected her with a glare.

"So, what's the real problem then? His age? I think you mentioned he was five years younger than us? Is he not good husband material? How does he look anyway?"

"Hm... Well-"

"Actually, let me guess how he looks." Nessa interrupted with a halt of her hand. She put a finger on her chin and looked up as she thought about it. "You said he was taking the Gym Challenge too, right?"

Sonia nodded, "Yeah, he's aiming to become the champion like  _ everyone _ else."

Nessa punched her own palm with a grin, facing Sonia with a conclusion. "Was he that brown-haired boy with brown eyes at the opening ceremony? The one hanging around Leon's little brother?"

Sonia looked surprised. "Yeah, he was. How'd you figure that out so fast?"

Nessa leaned back in her chair rather smug, "Just a feeling. As a roaring fighter of the waves, I can tell when someone has the fighting spirit to sail through any storms thrown at them. He seemed special, especially sticking close by Leon's little bro, so he was the first one that came to mind."

"Well, your intuition was on point." Sonia nodded.

Nessa was somewhat satisfied with quickly figuring it out. "He seemed to show the fighting spirit that I think even Bea would like. Speaking of which, that girl has a battle against Leon coming up, doesn't she? An exhibition match if I recall."

"She does? Sorry, but I haven't really been paying attention to any of the news or battles of Galar. Like I said before, I was just focused on my research." Sonia embarrassingly admitted.

Nessa waved it off, "It's all good. I know how busy and absorbed you can be in your work. I just hope Bea doesn't do anything rash if she loses..."

"Rash? Does she really hate losing?" Sonia placed her fork down and wiped her lips with a napkin.

"More than you know. I wonder how she'll react if little Victor beats her? A majority of the trainers can't beat her after all."

Sonia stared down at her cup of tea and an ear-to-ear smile instinctively formed. 

"I don't know how strong Bea is since I never got to challenge her, but... I have a feeling that Victor can beat her."

"Oh? I've never seen you get so- What's the word? Trusting?- In someone before. Even with Leon, you never thought he'd actually become the champion." Nessa pointed out.

"Hey now, I never said that Victor would become the champion, I just know he'll get far, maybe to the end of the challenge." The young adult looked back at her friend.

"So, you think he can get through me?" Nessa smugly smiled.

"Definitely!"

Nessa's head hit the table. "Your immediate response hurts me..."

Sonia just laughed, "Even if you lose, I'm sure you won't feel that bad about it! He seems like an amazing kid, I would know, since his mother bragged about him to me all the time!"

"Bragged about things like what?" Nessa raised her head curiously.

"He cooks, cleans, and is a very hard worker. But his mother also mentioned that he's strong, confident,  _ very _ honest, considerate, and some more." Sonia recalled. "You'll really like him, he's a very charming boy."

Nessa then mischievously grinned, raising her head back up. "Well, if you really think I'll like him that much, then I may just take him." She giggled.

Sonia stared at Nessa with a blank expression.

"It was a joke, please don't look at me like that." Nessa sweatdropped.

Sonia sipped her tea, staring rather suspiciously at her friend.

* * *

** ~{Rolling Fields: Clear Weather-1:54PM}~ **

Victor was covered in dirt, glaring at all the assailants that he had successfully taken down with help from Onix and his pokemon. Ace laid on his back while taking deep breaths, Twilight was upside down and breathing deeply, and Midori held his now throat in pain from using Disarming Voice too much.

All of the men and women were tied up from vines that Victor was able to produce from the ground. The group all looked rather nervous as Victor brushed the dirt off him, all the while Onix glared at them from above.

"Phew... I'm really sorry about bringing you into that Onix, I didn't expect people to come after me so soon." Victor apologized to the large pokemon.

Onix growled with his tail raised and visibly twitching, as if eager to slam it down upon these assaulters.

"Now then..." Victor turned to the group. "Since we're done with all the fighting and all that, I wanna talk to you guys."

"Tsk! We've got nothing to say to you!" The leading male spat for his dozen other members.

Victor looked unamused. "Oh, okay then." 

He turned around and started walking away, "Onix, do whatever you want."

Onix's eyes dilated as he raised his tail and it glowed like metal. "ONIX!!"

"WAIT! WAIT! ALRIGHT!!" The male leader immediately shouted in fear as he felt the natural aura of killing intent from Onix.

Victor immediately appeared in front of the male leader with a smile. "Thank you for your cooperation!"

Onix stopped as he saw Victor appear in front of him, visible frustration on his face. He then slammed his tail behind him instead to let out some steam, sent large amounts of rubble flying as he fumed.

"So then..." Victor crouched down at the male and stared at his uniform. "I read about you guys... You're Team Rocket, aren't you?"

"We're not just Team Rocket! We're Rainbow Rocket!"

Victor raised an eyebrow, "What's the difference? You're still an evil organization that wants to take over the world, aren't you?"

"Tsk, so you do know about us..."

"To some degree. Online rumors and sightings of the sort." He formed a glare. "But never  _ anything _ about you guys coming _ here _ ."

The Team Rainbow Rocket Grunt grinned, "You know why we're here. Well, other than profiting over some pokemon, of course."

_ "So they really did come for me... So it was the right call to use my powers in front of them." _

Victor maintained his threatening glare.

"But why are you guys called Rainbow Rocket now?"

"Hmph, nothing special. Our organization just grew big from a variety of people joining, that's it." He grinned, "Strong people."

"Hm..." Victor stood up. "Who is your boss?"

The Grunt turned his head away. "I... I can't say."

"Oh, okay then." Victor glanced up at Onix, who was already raising his tail once again.

"W-WE REALLY CAN'T SAY!" The grunt suddenly shouted. "I-If there's one thing we would never do, it's reveal our beloved leader's identity! I-If any of us said anything, then we'd be as good as dead! Much worse than dying to you here!"

"Hm..." Victor could feel the resolve of these people, raising a hand to stop Onix from venting his anger. "So loyal... Just what kind of leader-?"

_ *Never gonna give-you-up! Never gonna let-you-down!* _

Victor blinked and stared down at the Grunt's pants.

* _ Never gonna run-a-round and, desert you!* _

He reached down into the Grunt's pocket while everyone stared with blank expressions.

_ *Never gonna make-you-cry! Never gonna say-good-bye!* _

Victor pulled out a phone. "Nice ringtone."

The Grunt turned his head away.

"Sh-Shut up... I'm proud of it."

Victor answered the call, keeping silent and waiting for the person on the other side to speak first.

_ *Hello, Victor.* _

Victor's eyes dilated as he felt an instant chill in his spine.

_ "Wh-What..."  _ His hands shook.  _ "Why...? Wh-Why is this v-voice sound so... familiar?" _

_ *It's been such a long time... To think you managed to escape all the way to the Galar Region. I was in a real shock, you know?* _

"Wh-Who-?"

_ *You don't recognize me? Hmmm... Perhaps it's better that way then.* _

Flashes of different rooms went through his mind, each image containing a tall, shadowed man grinning in them, but unable to recognize him.

His grip tightened on the phone.

"Who, are, you?"

He heard him chuckle.

* _ Hmm... So you really don't remember? I'm crushed. I've really missed you, you know? I was looking so forward to working together with you in order to change the world... But to think your mother ended up stealing you away even without a pokemon, I was so distraught. _ *

The phone shook in Victor's hands as his breathing increased in pace.

"Don't act like we're friends! And my mom  _ saved _ me so I could have a normal life, she didn't try to keep me and  _ rob _ me of that life!"

* _ Now, now Victor, let's not get too hostile. I actually do want to become 'friends.' You're the only one of your kind with the abilities to help change the world after all. _ *

"Hmph, yeah, until you use me to make more." Victor spat.

* _ And what's wrong with that? We've been using pokemon for our benefits for years. But now we have the chance to use them to evolve humans instead, to create warriors as mighty as yourself. We need those powers to help make and rule our ideal world. _ *

"To make  _ your _ ideal world. And I don't wanna hear any convincing from you! No matter what you say, I won't join you guys!"

* _ Even if your mother's life depends on it? _ *

Victor's eye twitched, but he took a deep breath and calmed down.

"You won't touch her, mom is being protected by one of the strongest pokemon I know, with the addition of an army of friends." Victor actually smiled a bit as he said that.

He heard the man start chuckling again.

* _ I should've known you would've made so many pokemon companions already. Well, it doesn't matter anyway. We actually still don't know the exact location of your mother... Despite our eyes and ears in several places, we were unable to precisely locate her, which is rather odd. _ *

Victor curiously stared up,  _ "I wonder if Sensei had an influence on that?" _

He then asked another question, "Does mom know who you are?"

* _ Of course not. She wasn't officially part of Team Rocket at the time nor did I ever trust, her I would never reveal myself to her. _ *

_ "Dang it..." _ Victor sighed.

* _ But even without your mother, there may be other ways to bring you here... How are those other children that you've been enjoying the company of? _ *

"If you so much as touch them, I won't hesitate to wipe all of you out." Victor said with his hand tightening into a shaky fist.

* _ Oh? How touchy. I see you really do care for them... Hmmm. _ *

"Don't you even think about using them to threaten me." Victor hissed.

* _ Hahaha! Don't fret Victor, I have no interest in taking weak children, as much of a good idea that would be too bring you here. I actually wish to see you fight, see just what kind of warrior you've become. I won't have any necessity to go after them. Unless... If you've shared some 'unnecessary' information to them about you. It would be really troublesome to suddenly have others protecting you because of this knowledge. And it'd be a shame if we had to eliminate them because of that. _ *

"We both know that I don't want others to know about my powers. I don't want to be treated differently as some sort of other being. I don't want different people coming from everywhere just for reasons involving my powers."

_ *Well said, it's good that you understand. But I also hope that you don't spend too much of your time around them either. I wouldn't want my men clearing them out just to get to you.* _

"I'll be alone a lot. It's the best way for me and my pokemon to get stronger after all."

He heard the man laugh.

* _ Oho! So very true indeed. That was the way that I grew up, perhaps we're more alike than you think?* _

"Shut it, don't compare me to you. Let's just come to a mutual agreement, don't come after my friends, and secrets stay secret."

* _ Oh, how that hurts me, heh. But very well. However, keep in mind that although I won't instruct my men to directly take down your friends, that won't mean that they won't attack them on their own terms. _ *

"Then I'll be sure to take care of them together."

* _ Hm, good. And I hope you can show me just how strong you've gotten over the years. I can't wait to have you working with us soon enough. _ *

"As if." 

* _ So cold. Hehe. Oh well, you'll see soon enough that you were meant to join us. And as for those Grunts in front of you, you may do whatever you wish with them. They won't speak any secrets about you or me. _ *

"Hold it. I've got something else to ask."

* _ Oh? What could it be? _ * 

The man had an ear to ear grin in his room, already having a feeling of what he would ask.

Victor took a deep breath, lowering his head to the point that his eyes were shadowed.

"Were you the one that killed dad?"

Victor's pokemon felt a chill coming from their trainer, not just because they didn't know that he had lost such a family member, but because they could feel a new, dangerous feeling coming from him.

"S-Scor? Scor?" Ace nervously walked over to Victor and tugged his leg.

There was silence on the other side of the call, the wooshing of the wind being the only noise heard as parts of Victor's hair lightly blew with it.

He heard the man sigh.

* _ Ah yes, the Doctor... It was a shame to lose him, he was my best researcher... _ *

"Did you, or did you not, kill my dad?"

There was a brief pause between the two before he heard the man let out a deep sigh.

* _ Unfortunately, I did indeed have to take his life. _ *

Victor's shaking stopped.

* _ Not like I had much of a choice. He threatened the order of operations we had after all and knew how I was. If only he had just listened to me until the end... Such a waste of talent. _ *

Victor's heart started beating faster.

"I... see..."

Twilight, narrowed his eyes at Victor, feeling the dangerous pressure coming from him grow.

The Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts that were staring at Victor suddenly formed expressions of fear. Each one started instinctively shaking while beginning to sweat.

Victor's pokemon backed up as they heard their trainer chuckle.

"Well, then... Then I'd just like to warn you..."

His hand balled into a fist.

"I don't know who you are, or where your base is, nor am I gonna ask where it is just to charge straight in. Me and my pokemon are going to get stronger, strong enough to take on anything. And when that happens..."

He raised his head, and the moment he did, his pokemon and the Grunts all felt an aura of murderous intent erupted from him, causing all of them to be overwhelmed by the pressure he gave.

** "I'm will find you. And-I-Will-End-You." **

Victor crushed the phone in his hands, ending the call.

"EEK!!" All the Grunts squealed, picturing that phone was one of their heads.

The boy then opened his palm and dropped the crushed device onto the ground.

"Now then..." Victor turned back to his pokemon with an innocent smile and bright aura, "What should we do with these bad guys?"

"S-Scorbun! Scor!" Ace nervously shivered.

"Huh? I looked scary? Oh relax, you guys will always be fine to me. I won't ever hurt you guys."

He turned to the Grunts with a glare. "Them, on the other hand, if they don't cooperate with me, then I guess I'll have to-"

"WE'LL COOPERATE!!" The Grunts all bowed despite each of them being tied up.

"Thank you for understanding!" Victor beamed with a sparkling smile.

"O-Onix..." Onix nervously told Victor's pokemon.

They all nodded in agreement.

"Hey! I'm not that scary!!" Victor pouted.

His pokemon had blank faces at him.

"W-Well, I mean..." Victor sighed, looking down in some shame. "I really try not to get mad... I've been told before from mom that I can get pretty scary. Sorry... Let's just call Leon about these guys."

He pulled out his Rotom phone and called Leon, then raising it to his ear.

After a few rings, the champion picked up.

Victor was greeted by the sounds of intense winds and screaming.

* _ HEY VICTOR!! HOW'S IT GOING!?! _ *

Victor had to move the phone away from his ear so his eardrums wouldn't burst.

"Leon!?! What the hell is with the screaming!?!"

* _ WHAT!?! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!! I'M ABOUT TO JUMP OFF A PLANE!! _ *

Victor turned black and white. "What the hell do you mean you're going jump off a plane!?!"

* _ WHAT!?! _ *

Victor's eye twitched as he took a deep breath and shouted.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!"

* _ OH! I WAS OFF TO THE CHAIRMAN'S OFFICE AND ENDED UP AT A SKY DIVING CAMP!! THESE GUYS OFFERED TO FLY ME TO HIM FOR FREE ONCE THEY SAY ME!! _ * Leon explained through the furious roaring of winds.

"HOW THE HELL DID YOU GET LOST ENOUGH TO END UP IN A SKYDIVING CAMP!?! THEY HAVE THOSE HERE!?!"

* _ I KNOW!! SHOCKING RIGHT!?! _ *

Victor facepalmed.

He then started screaming again. "JUST DROP OFF BY THE EDGE OF ROLLING FIELDS AND DAPPLED GROVE!! IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT!!"

* _ REALLY!?! ALRIGHT!! I'M COMING!! I'LL SEE YOU SOON!! _ *

He then hung up the call, leaving Victor with a hoarse feeling in his throat.

"Ugh... Water..." He pulled out a bottle and started drinking, not even noticing the completely blank stares of the Grunts and the pokemon.

_ "Was the hell?" _ They all wondered.

* * *

** ~{Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Heeeeeeeeeeey Victoooooooooooor!!!!!"

Victor was sitting on the ground rather unamused as he watched Leon gracefully falling from the sky with his parachute already out. Most of the Grunts were asleep by now, using the chance to catch on some rest that they missed while always working hard for their organization.

Onix had already left before Leon arrived, having enough human contact for one day while Victor's pokemon did exercises related to their strong points, such as Ace stretching and jumping to train his legs and Twilight flying as high as he could before coming back down fast.

Leon landed on the ground and unclicked the parachute, then taking off goggles and pulling out a bag that had his cap and cape.

"Phew! That was fun! I'll have to call the Chairman and let him know I'll be late though-!" It was then Leon noticed the tied up group of Grunts while Victor impatiently pouted at him. 

"Um... What happened?"

"That's what I should be asking you!?! How did you end up on a plane just by heading to the Chairman!?" Victor snapped.

"Er, sorry... Just me being me, I guess." Leon awkwardly laughed.

"Don't just shrug it off!"

Victor then took the time to explain the situation to Leon, of course not all of it. He only said that Team Rocket, or in this case, Team 'Rainbow Rocket', was now in Galar and seemed to be looking to cause trouble. He didn't mention their leader calling him but did ask Leon what he knew about him, which was nothing. Of course, he also didn't say that they were mostly aiming for him, nor did the Grunts mention anything about Victor's abilities out of respect for their beloved leader. Both sides just seemed to treat the story that they saw a 'vulnerable' kid and went after him.

By the time Victor was finished, some of the Pokemon League Staff had arrived in a few vehicles.

Victor raised an eyebrow, "The Pokemon League Staff? They serve as the police too?"

Leon rubbed the back of his head, "Well, not exactly. This is a special case. The League Staff work under Chairman Rose himself and are called in for situations like this, where it isn't common crimes occurring, but for more serious manners. I've only heard about Team Rocket briefly, but I know that they're dangerous. But good job catching these guys Victor, I can see your pokemon are growing already!" He gave him a thumbs up.

"Yeaaaaaah." Victor averted his eyes while his pokemon stared at him, knowing fully well that it was mostly him.

The champion looked rather serious now, glaring at the Grunts getting taken away. "But... For this many of them to ambush just a child-?"

"Er-! There was a powerful Onix with me! So-!"

"Oh! And you just went to stop them from capturing it! I see!" Leon concluded with a grin.

"Something like that."

"Well, thank you for that, Victor! Give me another call if something like this happens again! But for now, shouldn't you be heading for Turffield for your first gym battle? I'm sure the staff can give you a ride."

Victor turned to his pokemon, who all stood proudly.

"Hm... I guess so. But we want to continue on foot so we can continue training on the way." He smiled.

"Great! Then I'll be on my way!" Leon tossed Charizard out of his pokeball, then climbing carefully onto the proud pokemon. "Good luck Victor! I'm looking forward to your growth!"

Charizard then flapped its wings and took off to the sky.

Victor watched as Leon left, following the departure of the Pokemon League Staff taking away the Grunts in their vehicles.

"Ralts, Ralts?" Midori questioned his trainer.

"Oh, right... You guys don't really know my past, or my deal with those guys." He reached down and picked up his backpack, then adjusting his beanie and turning to his pokemon. "I'll explain on the way out of here..."

They started walking.

"So... You know how I have powers, right?"

* * *

** ~{Route 3- 3:45PM}~ **

"I didn't think we'd meet up so soon..." 

Gloria's eye twitched with a forced smile as she stood right in front of Marnie. Both had ended up encountering each other right at the entrance of the Galar Mines. It was rather odd to find each other so fast after just separating on their journey to get stronger.

"E-Erm... Hello again." Marnie politely said.

"Hey..." Gloria weakly waved. She paid close attention to her Marnie's looks now that she had the chance. Her goth/punk-like appearance didn't at all match her timid nature, her smooth and pale skin, the partially shaved hairstyle that she was surprisingly able to pull off while still looking cute, and just the overall warm feeling she gave being around her.

_ "This girl is dangerous... I can't leave her alone with Victor. What if she's actually trying to trick him?"  _ She narrowed her eyes.

"U-Um..." Marnie nervously rubbed her hands. "I-I'm sorry!"

"Eh?" Gloria blinked.

"Ya look really mad at me! I don't know what I did, but I'm sorry!!" She bowed.

Three arrows comedically punctured Gloria's heart, "Urk! Oof! Gah!!" then causing her double over on her knees.

"Eh!? Are ya okay!?" Marnie rushed over as Gloria shivered.

_ "SHE'S JUST GENUINELY NICE!!"  _ Gloria thought in defeat.

Morpeko was beside Marnie staring rather unamused at Gloria, waiting for her to realize what incorrect thoughts she had of her trainer.

Marnie got to one knee and help lift Gloria back to her feet.

"Wh-What happened to ya!?"

Gloria turned to Marnie and saw her flushing cheeks, clearly, the girl wasn't really used to these situations with others.

"S-Stomachache..." Gloria lied.

"Oh! I have somethin' for that!" Marnie quickly reached into her small bag and pull out a bottle case of pills, then using both hands to offer them to Gloria. "H-Here, just take one of these!"

Receiving the capsule while watching Marnie's genuine expression of worry made Gloria's heart squeeze again.

"Urk..." She grabbed her chest in comedic pain.

After a few minutes of repeated heart squeezes, Gloria was able to calm and speak to Marnie.

"Thank you... Sorry, I didn't mean to act so cold towards you... I just had some things on my mind..." Gloria answered, rather ashamed.

Marnie let out a breath of relief, although still looking somewhat nervous. "Oh, okay... I was worried that ya didn't like me..."

Gloria took Marnie by the hand. "Don't worry! I'll never say that!"

Morpeko nodded beside Marnie like she had been expecting this.

Marnie had a blank expression, yet there was a bright aura around her, indicating that she was pretty happy.

"Th-Thank you..." Marnie looked down rather timidly.

_ "But she's still dangerous for Victor..." _ Gloria stared.

"Eh!? Wh-Why are you making that face again!?" Marnie stammered in confusion.

"I'm sorry!!!" Gloria responded.

Morpeko rolled her eyes at the cycle.

* * *

** ~{Route 4- 3:47PM}~ **

"Sky! Use Peck!" 

"Rookie!" Hop's Rookidee dived down, and his beak impacted with a Galarian Meowth.

"Me-OW!" The pokemon was sent flying into tall patches of golden grass, to which it shook its head and used the chance to escape.

"Good job, Sky!" Hop grinned as he stuck his arm out and let his pokemon land on top of it. "We're getting stronger already!"

His Rookidee proudly raised his head with closed eyes. "Rooki!"

"Nice! Turffield is just up ahead!" Hop pointed with his other arm. Turffield was at a visible distance away from Hop, although looking actually far, he still claimed that it was 'just up ahead.'"

Sky took flight to examine the area up ahead as Hop tossed Conga and Wooloo out of their pokeballs.

"Look over there, boys! The place where my skills will first be demonstrated to the world! Are you ready to stick with me all the way to the top!?"

"Baaaa!" Wooloo smiled.

"Grookey! Grookey!" Conga smiled.

"Alright! Then let's go!! Onward to become the be the very best, that no one ever was!" He shouted to the world.

However, his shouting caused several Meowths to pop out from several hiding places in the golden grass with mischievous grins.

Hop flinched. "Uh, oh."

"Meow!!" Several Meowths cried in sync as all they all dived right at Hop.

Hop's eyes widened as his pokemon got battle-ready.

"SHI-!"

* * *

** ~{Route 3- 5:43PM}~ **

*The moment you reach out your hand to the fu-ture,*

*I hope that you will loooove every memory that you make,*

*long, hope, philiaaaaa!!*

"Scor?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

Victor stopped mumbling and glanced down at Ace as they walked along the clear path.

"Hm? Oh, just a little song I remembered."

Midori tilted his head curiously as he sat on Victor's backpack while Twilight flew over them. Many large patches of grass had pokemon such as Growlithes and Gossifleur curiously eyeing Victor as he passed. Occasionally one would challenge him, be shocked that he can understand them, and then proceed to battle one of his pokemon only to be defeated. This pattern continued as Victor made his way through Route 3.

"Ralts? Ralts?"

"Hm? What's wrong with letting those pokemon know about my abilities? Telling pokemon is different from telling humans. One, pokemon can't really tell humans about what I saw, and two, I  _ want _ pokemon to know what I can do so they would come to me for help sooner."

"Rooki!? Rooki!?" Twilight called from above them.

"I'm sure I can trust them! They don't have any reasons for telling anyone anyway nor can they!!" Victor called out to Twilight while making sure others weren't around.

"Rooki!"

"Foolish!?!" Victor repeated, rather insulted.

"Growl!?"

"Pan!?"

Victor stopped and turned around to see a Pancham and Growlithe rushing over to him, both of them visibly hurt and panting.

"See? Help needed already!" Victor ran to meet up with the pokemon.

"Pancham!? Pan!?" The Pancham asked Victor desperately.

Yeah, I'm the one that can talk to you guys. You need some help?" Victor asked, already used to the signs of trouble from helping so many pokemon in the Slumbering Weald.

"P-Pancham!" The Pancham nodded.

"Explain on the way!" Victor immediately answered with a new serious expression.

"Growl!" Grothlithe turned around and started bolting forward to lead them with Pancham beside him.

Victor followed from behind with his pokemon beside him.

Soon, they came upon a small area where a group of Rolycoly were repeatedly Tackling another Pancham.

"Oi!" Victor suddenly blasted forward in a sprinter run with rather intense eyes at the group.

The Rolycolys turned to see Victor dashing at them, but just seemed to scoff as the group of five started charging at the boy, then jumping to ram into him as they got close.

"Midori, Disarming Voice!"

Still on his trainer's rectangular backpack, Ralts opened his mouth.

"RAAAAAAAA!!!" He sent waves of sound and struck the front Rolycoly, ending up in him being sent back and crashing into the others. They scattered in the air just above Victor as he approached.

Victor pulled his arm back, and his hand started glowing rapidly red as he kept his fingers straight in a karate-chopping position.

"Brick Break!"

He jumped up at the Rolycolys.

"Hi-YAH!" He comedically chopped the front one on the head, knocking him down to the ground.

"Hi-yah! Hi-yah! Hi-yah! Hi-yah!" He repeatedly chopped at each other Rolycoly, sending them down with spirals replacing their eyes.

They all fell to the ground rather dizzy from taking super-effective hits.

Victor then landed on the ground right in front of the hurt Pancham, his hand still steaming from striking so many pokemon at once.

The Pancham and Growlithe that had asked for help looked dumbfounded.

A few minutes later, the Rolycoly's were lined up while shaking as Victor's pokemon applied some potions and berries on the two injured Panchams and the Growlithe.

"That Pancham was stealing your berries?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

"Roly..." The Rolycoly all nodded.

Victor turned to the Pancham. "That true?"

The Pancham looked down in some shame, "Pan..."

"Oh, I see..." Victor then went over and karate chopped each Rolycoly on their heads. "But that doesn't mean that you guys have to go that far in beating him!"

He turned around and karate chopped the Pancham on its head, "And you! Stealing is bad!"

"P-Pancham!" He whined.

Victor sighed. "Food for your friends, huh?"

The other Pancham and Growlithe looked rather touched.

The trainer rubbed the back of his head looking sympathetic.

"I get it... It's tough to live in the wild... isn't it?"

The pokemon all looked down at the ground.

"But sometimes there are times where you just go too far... Just remember that." 

Victor reached into his bag and pulled out his camping kit, then smiling. "How about I make something for everyone?"

All the pokemon stared up at him, surprised.

"Let's eat while we work everything out. Although... I don't want to camp in the middle of the path, is there a camping area near here?"

"Pancham!" The Pancham excitedly jumped and pointed in the distance.

"Oh? Right outside the Galar Mines up ahead? Perfect! Let's go, it'll be dark soon! And bring any berries you got left with you!" Victor grinned.

* * *

** ~{Route 3 Camp- 6:01PM}~ **

Victor set up a red tent as he happily hummed away while his pokemon set up a pot over a cooking stand with a small fire underneath.

_ "I still don't get how all this camping gear was able to fit in such a small place..." _ He wondered as he hammered down the stakes to keep the tent up.

"Alrighty, now then-" He turned around and saw his pokemon, along with the group of Rolycolys, Panchams, and Growlithe, all staring at him anxiously with stars in their eyes.

Victor chuckled as he pulled his sleeves up and dug into his leather backpack, then pulling out a Tin Of Beans.

"Mom gave me a few ingredients to help me make something. Just gather up the berries in one pile and let me do the work!"

The pokemon listened and gathered a variety of berries as Victor set up a foldable table and a case of cooking utensils.

"Now, let's get started."

The pokemon all watched as Victor chopped up berries, opened up Tins of Beans, and started making the curry paste right there.

The sun was slowly setting in the horizon as bubbles appeared in the pot Victor was using, now stirring up the brown paste while whistling.

He added some chopped up berries and continued stirring.

_ "Smells really nice!"  _ He thought proudly to himself.

Victor then heard some movement in the bushes, prompting him to turn his head with an eyebrow raised.

He saw a variety of pokemon staring at him, front Machops, Zigzagoons, Vulpix, and more. It was obvious what they were interested in and Victor didn't want any aggressive tension, so he quickly thought of something.

"Here's the deal!" He pointed to the pokemon at the grass, making them flinch. "There's clearly not enough for everyone, but I can make more if you guys go and catch plenty of different berries! And I'll also need a small favor out of all of you afterword, alright?"

Victor's own pokemon noticed that they were surrounded by curious pokemon, all of them taking cautionary stances.

The curious pokemon turned to each other, letting out small cries to communicate, before then turning around and retreating in the grass.

Victor shrugged it off and continued cooking, staring at his curry while his pokemon now kept an eye out for anything suspicious.

"Alrighty! It should be done!" Victor pulled out a ladle full of curry and grinned.

"Scor!/Ralts!/Pan!/Roly!/Growl!" All the pokemon besides Twilight energetically cheered on sync.

Victor pulled out a small stack of small plates, "Keep in mind there aren't enough plates for each one of you, s you're gonna have to share some. I'll keep filling them up, so be sure not to fight."

He poured curry and rice onto the plates and passed them out. "With those berries and beans, I made some Bean Medley Curry!"

The pokemon all started digging in.

Victor watched them all as he sat down on a rock and ate his own curry, feeling oddly satisfied with his cooking skills. 

_ "Not that close to Sonia or Gloria yet, but I'm getting there." _

He then heard some rustling from the bushes again, making him turn around with an eyebrow raised. 

He saw a small Zigzagoon run over to him while struggling to hold a few berries in its mouth.

"Oh?" Victor smiled.

Then one by one, more pokemon started coming out of the bushes with berries and surrounded Victor, each one offering them to him.

"Is this what being feeling popular feels like?" Victor asked with proudly closed eyes and comedically falling tears.

Ace rolled his eyes.

"But anyway! Alrighty! I'll get started on another batch!" Victor's eyes flared up in determination.

All the pokemon cheered.

Victor's arms moved in blurs as he did repeated steps of slicing up berries and stirring the pot, 

This went on for quite some time, resulting in the sky turning dark and causing several pokemon to cuddle up with one another feeling completely full of food after eating.

When all was said and done, Victor was lying on the ground with a tired smile on his face and a part of his soul leaving his body.

_ "Well... That was a thing that happened..." _

He forcefully turned his head to glance at all the pokemon sleeping together.

_ "I was gonna ask them a few things... but I guess this is fine." _

He grunted as he sat up and realized that he had to put the supplies away, especially the dirty plates.

"Man... This is gonna be annoying... My arms are sore enough as it is..." He yawned. "I guess I'll do it tomorrow..."

He looked around the groups of sleeping pokemon, finding his three main companions sleeping together on top of a pile of Zigzagoons.

Victor smiled and walked over, careful not to step on any other sleeping pokemon as he did so. He then carefully picked up his three pokemon and carried them over to his tent.

_ "There shouldn't be anyone threatening around, so I'm sure we're safe for the night. But from then on, we might have to take shifts..." _

Victor got inside his tent, where he had set up a yellow, zip-up sleeping bag. He carefully sat down and placed his pokemon beside him, then covering each of them up with a blanket.

"And now... to become a potato."

As he said this, he removed his beanie and zipped himself up into his yellow sleeping bag, only exposing his face as he snuggled in it.

"Tomorrow is another big day guys, good night."

He got soothing mumbles in return.


	10. The Galar Mines

**~{Route 3- 9:43 AM}~**

The interior of Victor's tent had a shade of red as the boy let out a long yawn, also slipping on his favorite gray beanie given to him from Hop so long ago.

"Ugh... I'm never going to get used to waking up..." He muttered as he slipped on new socks.

Ace stretched his arms and legs out while Twilight was already heading outside of the red tent. Midori, on the other hand, was already gone. He had woken up much earlier than the group and was already going outside.

Victor slipped on his shoes and let out another yawn, "I'd better clean up those dishes from yesterday..."

He folded up his sleeping bag and proceeded to pull himself out of his tent.

He got out and rubbed his eyes, then stretching his arms up.

"Goooooood morning wooooooooorld!!!!" 

He shouted that proudly into what he expected to be an empty area, only for him to fully open his eyes and be shocked by what he saw in front of him.

All the dishes from yesterday were stacked neatly on top of each other, with nearly all the pokemon Victor had served right beside them.

Zigzagoons, Machamps, Growlithes, and more add sat happily as if having waited for the boy to wake up and come out. Midori was beside some of these pokemon smiling as he stared at his trainer.

Victor had to do a double-take and rub his eyes to see if what he saw was actually real.

"Eh? You... You guys cleaned up for me?"

The crowd of pokemon let out a mixture of nods and happy cries.

Ace looked shocked by the politeness of these random pokemon, half-expecting them all to run away by the time they had woken up. There were indeed signs of many pokemon leaving, but it was still surprising to see how many of them stayed.

"Scor, scor?" He turned his head up to Victor, only to be shocked by his trainer's face, "Scor!?!"

Victor had bubbly eyes and was comedically crying rivers of tears.

"Awwwww! You guys are so sweet!!!" He dived at the pokemon, hugging group by group of them with small noises of happiness.

Ace, Twilight, and Midori sweatdropped.

Victor kept hugging the groups until he saw the five Rolycolys from yesterday hanging out beside the two Panchams and Growlithe, all of which, looking cheerful and healthy.

He smiled, "So you guys are friends now?"

"Pan! Pancham!" One of the playful pokemon cheered.

"Good! I'm so happy!" Victor clapped his hands together. "Thank goodness I was able to help you guys!"

His eyes then widened as he recalled something important.

"Oh, that's right!!"

He got up and looked around to make sure all the pokemon were paying attention to him.

"I want a favor from all of you!" 

He raised a finger up.

"For any of you traveling around, I just want you to spread the word to pokemon all over the Galar Region! Tell them this-!"

He paused to make sure no humans were around, then turning back to the pokemon.

"Tell them that the boy who can understand pokemon won't refuse to help anyone! The boy with the gray-beanie named Victor will be traveling all over Galar to become the World Champion and help out all pokemon! If they have something they need help with, then I'll be sure to help them!"

All the pokemon stared at him in awe, most not knowing that he could understand them.

Victor then pointed a finger at the group, "You got all that? I'll be relying on you! So, go on, get out there!"

The pokemon all nodded, then all of them scattered in different directions, leaving just Victor and his three pokemon alone.

"Now then..." Victor adjusted his beanie and turned to his three companions with a grin. "You guys ready to continue with our adventure?"

"Scorbunny!"

"Rookidee!"

"Ralts!"

"Good! Then let's pack up and go!"

After a few minutes of putting away the tent and other camping gear, Victor hoisted up his backpack, although still looking unsure about it.

_"I still don't get how all this stuff fits in here..."_

Their group could see the Galar mines just up ahead, not too far as they had slept in the campsite near it only the night before.

Victor kept walking until he came upon the entrance of the mines, stopping and glancing up at the brick archway that made it look like it was some sort of entry for a train tunnel.

He grinned, adjusted his beanie, and walked inside with Ralts and Ace beside him while having Twilight perched on his rectangular backpack.

When Victor went in the mine, he saw several colors reflecting back at him. With the additions of lanterns on the wall, so many crystals reflected light, making his eyes sparkle in awe at the beautiful stones in the wall.

"Oooooooo! So shiny!!" He stopped from one crystal to the next, "Green, red, blue, so amazing!! Are these actually worth something?!"

His eyes caught sight of a red sparkle hidden behind a minecart full of other stones.

He went over and picked it up, examining the red item in his hands.

"Oh! This is a star piece!!" He grinned. "I wonder if it fell out of a cart?"

He got up and put it in his pocket, then continuing to follow the path through the mines.

Ace continuously practiced kicking a small crystal up like a soccer ball as he walked, focusing on keeping balance, keeping the crystal in the air, and moving at the same time. A rather tricky task, but one he kept trying so that he could improve his leg strength like Victor need him to do.

Ralts just curiously gazed at the crystals quietly, appreciating their beauty while keeping close to Victor. 

As for Twilight, he actually kept flying fast forward and back in the mine, practicing maneuvering around in the tight spaces.

They passed by boxes, barrels, digging equipment, Rolycolys, Woobats, and several other things as they went through the beautiful mines of Galar.

Soon he came upon a bridge that led across a large area of the mine below.

_"Wow, I wonder how big these mines are? Could they possibly reach an area underground where Dynamax pokemon are?"_ Victor wondered as he walked across the wooden bridge, hating every single creak he heard from it.

As they got across and back to the dirt ground, Victor saw a few Timburr carrying items such as boxes or barrels while walking past them.

_"They must be working here."_

He followed a track for the carts, being careful to avoid a sudden flying cart-looking pokemon as it blazed passed him. Despite the mines looking big, Victor felt as if the path he took made his time there short, as he could already see the light ahead of the tracks.

_"I wonder if this is just the main path for trainers, but there are other hidden ones for workers?"_

He walked ahead as he made out the light to be of outside, smiling as he made his over.

"You again? I thought you'd learn from last time not to bother taking the challenge?."

Hearing this voice, Victor froze and realized that he had overlooked entirely someone else ahead.

Standing in the middle of an open area right before the exit, there was the same boy with the platinum hair and pink sweater that he had talked to before the opening ceremony.

Recognizing him, Victor put his hand into his palm with an innocent smile.

"Oh! Mr. Happy Face!"

Cross-veins popped out of the boy's head.

"What in the-!?! I have a name! Bede! It's Bede!!" He shouted, annoyed.

"Oh, then I hope we get along, Bede!" Victor brightly shined.

Bede covered his eyes so he wouldn't be blinded by this bright aura, but it also made him even angrier.

"Ugh! You've just been annoying me ever since I met you!"

Victor's smile faded, and so did his bright aura. "I think that's more of a _you_ problem. I mean, hasn't it been more of your attitude what's causing you to dislike me?"

"Tsk!" Bede brushed his hair with his hand, calming himself down. " _Anyway_... I see you didn't listen to my advice to just step out of the gym challenge, you're just wasting your time."

Ace tapped his foot on the ground with his arms crossed, looking annoyed, Twilight had flown to the ground, glaring at Bede, and Ralts seemed to be puffing his chest to look tough.

"Well, then it's my time I'm wasting. You shouldn't worry about me too much." Victor answered him, not looking too fazed by his claims.

Hearing this, Bede narrowed his eyes and pulled out a pokeball, repeatedly tossing it up and catching it in his hand with a grin.

"Well, the last time we talked, you made me rather annoyed with your poor choice of words. So if you're thinking of going this way, then I'd advise against it. You should just drop out of the challenge before I end up exposing how pathetic a trainer endorsed by the champion really is."

Seeing him take out his pokeball, Victor knew that if he got close, then Bede would fight him to show his place. He glanced down at his three pokemon, who all had stern expressions.

Victor smiled and started approaching Bede.

Bede formed a smug smile and stuck his hands out.

"Oh? You're approaching me? Instead of running away, you're heading right to me?"

Victor's pokemon followed behind their trainer.

"I can't beat the crap out of your pokemon without getting closer."

Bede formed an evil grin.

"Oh ho! Then come as close as you like!"

Both teens proceeded to walk closer with exaggerated detailed faces of determination.

________________________________________

**~{Turffield- 10:05AM}~**

Hop stepped out of the pokemon center with some bandages on his head, yet looking his usual cheerful self as he took a good look at the fields around the town of Turffield.

"Finally! After fighting off a hoard of pokemon, using the night to regain my strength, and getting my pokemon healed up, I'm ready to take on Turffield gym!" he declared with a hand in the air.

A few of the surrounding people walking by started clapping.

"Good luck!"

"Do your best!"

"Thank you! Thank you!" Hop happily waved to them. "And now I'm off!"

He took off running for Turffield Gym, ready to overcome his first challenge.

Only to see a rather large crowd of other trainers in front of the gym.

"Huh!? What's with all these people!?" He screeched to a halt and frantically turned his head to dozens of trainers, waiting with pokeballs in hand.

Hop turned and saw one of the Pokemon League staff standing around.

"Excuse me!" He rushed over to him. "What's going on?"

The staff member turned to him, "The gym leader of Turffield, Milo, is currently out solving some problems in the fields with some Wooloo. So the gym is currently closed for trainers."

"Eh!?!" Hop started using both hands to scratch his hair, "But he's the first gym leader!! And the opening ceremony was just yesterday!! How could he be out!?!"

"I do apologize, but he should be back in about half an hour." The League Staff bowed.

"Half an hour!?" Hop turned to the line of trainers waiting to challenge the gym leader.

"..." He let out a sigh of disappointment and walked away, "Thank you..."

He kept walking until he got back to the Turffield Pokemon Center, approaching a soft looking patch of grass.

And then falling face-first into it.

_"I guess I'll just wait here for Victor or Gloria..."_

He took a deep breath of the grass.

_"I even got here early... Pooey..."_

"Oh? Hop, is that you?" A woman called out to him.

Hop turned his head while still on the ground, looking up to see Sonia grinning down at him.

"What are you doing? Aren't you going to go win your very first badge?"

Hop pouted, "Milo isn't there right now... And there's a _huge_ line anyway..."

Sonia turned her head to the gym and looked surprised by the number of people there.

"Oh, wow, yesterday there wasn't even anywhere close to this number of people."

Hop suddenly got up to his feet with comedic fumes coming out, "I know, right!? Yesterday when I got here, no one was here, so I thought I could get some sleep and fight him now, but then all these guys came in!"

Sonia chuckled at his fuming.

"Hey, Sonia! Hop!"

The two turned and saw Gloria waving to them while Luna peeked at them from her backpack.

Hop smiled when he saw her. "Hey, Gloria! Good to see you made it here in one piece! When did you get here?"

"I got here yesterday." Gloria answered as she approached the two. "I ended up running into Marnie along the way, and we both arrived here together."

"You did!? But I didn't even see you guys when I was here!"

Gloria rolled her eyes, "Hop, when Marnie and I got here, we found you camping right beside the pokemon center, already dead asleep."

"Huh!? How'd you know it was me?!"

Gloria only had to saw two words.

"Your snoring..."

Hop flinched and let out an awkward laugh, rubbing the back of his head.

"Whoops."

"Where did Marnie go, though?" Sonia asked as she looked around for any sign of the girl.

Gloria pointed her thumb at the gym, "She went to wait for the gym leader to return. She got passed everyone because they actually got scared of her stare."

_"Ouch."_ Hop and Sonia both thought.

Sonia clapped her hands together to get Hop and Gloria's attention.

"Well, while we wait for Milo to get back, can you both help me with something?"

"Hm? With what?" Hop asked.

Sonia turned her head and pointed in the direction of large hills.

"I want to ask you what you think about some certain markings."

_____________________________________

**~{Meanwhile: Galar Mines}~**

Bede tossed his pokeball as Victor pointed a finger at the same time.

"Solosis, Confusion!"

"Ace, Ember!!"

Bede's pokeball released a round, green pokemon that was surrounded by a darker green, gel-like substance, while Ace jumped forward while grinning.

"Solo!" Solosis fired a ball of purple light towards Ace as the rabbit pokemon jumped and kicked a small ball of fire.

Both their attacks collided and created a small explosion, but that didn't let either trainer stop them from continuing.

"Ace! Use Ember again!"

Ace kicked another ball of fire through the small cloud of smoke, and it directly hit Solosis, knocking him back a few feet.

"Get up and use Endeavor!" Bede shouted.

Solosis suddenly got up and seemed to puff up, then released a blast of white that impacted Ace in one second, returning the same amount of pain he had just received.

"Scor!" Ace tumbled on the ground before coming to a stop, then getting up and rubbing his head, irritated.

"Ace! Use-!"

Before he could answer, Ace started glowing blue and change shape.

"Scooooooorrr-booooooot!!!"

Ace was changing, getting slightly bigger with his appearances to become similar to an edgy teen.

"Raboot!" The nearly evolved Raboot cried.

"..." Victor blinked.

"..." Bede raised an eyebrow.

Victor had sparkles in his eyes with comedic tears, "Ace!! You evolved just for me!?"

Ace rolled his eyes and looked away from Victor uncaringly.

"I'm so proud of you!!!" Victor leaped forward and wrapped his pokemon in his arms. "Who's a good rabbit!?"

Ace's eyes widened in Victor's hug, and he visibly struggled.

"R-Raboot! Raboot! Boot! Boot!"

Victor nuzzled his cheek against Ace's.

"Awwww! Did you become a tsundere!? Don't worry Ace, I'll make sure to treat you the same even if you changed!"

Ace averted his eyes despite the small blush of embarrassment.

Bede facepalmed. _"They're idiots..."_

He sighed, "Solosis, Confusion."

"Sol!!" Solosis fire another ball of purple energy.

Ace's eyes turned serious as he saw the attack heading towards him and his trainer, making him do push Victor off and jump in the air.

"Raboot!" He formed a ball of fire on his feet, one that seemed more significant than any of the previous ones he's created, and kicked the ball right through the ball of purple energy.

It pierced right through Solosis' attack and continued on into it crashed into the Psychic pokemon and exploded.

"Sol!!"

When the smoke cleared, Solosis was on the ground, unconscious.

"You got so much stronger too!" Victor smiled with his hands together over his heart.

Ace turned back to Victor and narrowed his eyes, then turning away his head uncaringly.

"Tsk!" Bede returned his Solosis and pulled out another pokeball. "Come out, Gothita!"

Out of the pokeball came out a small pokemon of black and purple colors with a goth-like appearance.

"Gothita!" The pokemon shouted.

"Use Psybeam!!" Bede shouted.

"Goth!!" The fixation pokemon shouted as a purple and pink beam of energy blasted from its mouth.

"Dodge i-!" Victor didn't finish as the Psybeam came so fast that it had already hit Ace.

"Ra!!!!" Ace tumbled back in obvious pain, clutching his chest where he had just been struck.

Ace then got up with a glare.

"Ra-boot!!" He suddenly burst into flames, getting into a running stance before suddenly blasting forward.

"Wha-!?" Victor was surprised by the sudden movements as Ace crashed right into Gothita.

The Psychic pokemon flew back and bumped right into the walls of the cave, then falling to the ground.

"Oooo! You learned Flame Charge too!? Nice!"

Raboot got on one knee, looking somewhat tired.

"Gothita! Get up and use Psybeam again!" Bede shouted.

"Goth!" The psychic pokemon unleased and another wave of telekinetic energy.

"Use the walls to jump!"

Ace suddenly leaped to the cave walls faster than before, avoiding the beam and using the walls to jump off, heading towards Gothita again.

"Now, use Tackle!"

Ace aimed an elbow down as he flew right at his opponent.

That's when Bede narrowed his eyes.

"Duck and use Pound."

Gothita ran at Ace as he got near, ducking while it's tiny hand glowed white.

"Goth!!" It timed it so as Ace was going right over her, then jumping with her glowing hand up to pound him right in the stomach.

"Ra!!" Ace's eyes widened as he felt his stomach hurt before then getting launched back.

"Ace!" Victor dove with his hands out and caught his pokemon before he could hit the ground. "You alright!?"

He glanced down at his now unconscious pokemon, then pouting. "He got you..."

He carried Raboot like a baby in one arm, and his other hand pointed a finger out.

"Midori! Your turn!"

Midori nodded as he stepped forward. 

Bede didn't even wait. "Gothita, Psybeam again!"

"Goth!" Another beam of energy came.

"Midori, use Double Team!"

Midori jumped and flashed white, to which over a dozen clones of him came and jumped all over the place.

"Tsk! Use Psybeam and drag it around!" 

Gothita fired a beam of energy while moving her head to slice across the wall, hitting multiple Ralts and making the copies poof away.

"Now, Midori, use Disarming Voice!"

The real Midori had jumped over the beam and opened its mouth.

"Raaaaaaa!!" He realized a wave of pink hearts that hit Gothita from above.

"Goth!!" Gothia flew back and rolled to Bede's feet.

Midori landed as the rest of the clones disappeared.

"Good job Midori!!" Victor shouted with a fist up.

Midori formed a small smile.

Bede returned Gothita and pulled out his last pokemon.

"Go, Hatenna." He said without too much thought.

Out came a small pokemon with a pink round body, little pink feet, and a blue hair with what looked like to be a design of a pink hat on top.

"Hatenna!" The pokemon cried out as it jumped.

"Oo! I've noticed this, but you seem to be a fan of psychic types?" Victor pointed out with a smile.

"Shut up and fight! Hatenna, Disarming Voice!" Bede pointed.

"Haaaaaaaaa!" Hatenna fired her heart-shaped voice.

"Return it with your own!"

"Raaaaaaaaaa!!" Ralts fired his own voice.

Both attacks collided, but Hatenna's Disarming Voice seemed to have caused a bigger blast.

_"Hm, Hatenna has a stronger special attack... Better watch out."_

"Midori, run forward, and use Double Team!"

Midori sprinted up as multiple clones of him appeared by his side, running with him.

"Hatenna, use Disarming Voice on the ground.

"Haaaaa!!" Hatenna jumped and blasted the ground, which caused a wave of dust to be kicked up. Every one of the clones disappeared upon contact with it, leaving Midori the only one still running.

_"Damn, these clones disappear with any form of physical contact, even the small specs of dust!"_

"Now, use Confusion!" Bede shouted.

Hatenna landed and blasted a ball of telekinetic energy.

"Jump over it!"

Instead of jumping, Ralts suddenly glowed purple, then vanishing on the spot.

"What in the world!?" Bede was shocked.

Victor's eyes widened as he recognized the move, then getting excited as he shouted, "When you reappear, use Disarming Voice!!"

Hatenna heard a woosh behind her and turned around only to see Midori with his mouth open.

"Raaaaaaaaa!!" Hatenna took the attack head-on and exploded back into the air.

"Hattena, don't-!"

"Don't give it a chance, finish it with Confusion!" Victor shouted.

Midori aimed at the flying Hatenna before firing a ball of energy that connected to it.

"Hatte-!?!" The ball exploded into dust, to which Hatenna fell out and plopped onto the ground unconscious.

Bede stared in shock, "How did-?"

"He learned Teleport!" Victor grinned as his Ralts stood up, looking tired.

Bede's hands clenched into fists. "What kind of stupidity is this? For your pokemon to evolve, and your pokemon learning multiple new moves in just this one battle!?"

"I mean, I had them training for a while before heading here, so it was bound to happen! But I guess the excitement and stakes of proving ourselves to you just pushed them!" Victor said with a laugh.

"Tsk!" Bede returned Hatenna back into a pokeball. "No matter, it's not like I was trying like it was the end of the Earth. You just got very lucky."

"Thank you! I try my best!" Victor smiled, still holding an unconscious Ace in his arms. "And so do my friends, they're the strong ones."

"Hmph. Next time we meet, it won't be so simple. You won't have the same luck to help you out again."

_"Was it really luck, though? I knew they should've been on the brink of learning new moves... But Ace evolving did surprise me."_

"And I already got what I came for. There shouldn't any more Wishing Stars in this area..." Bede mumbled as he glanced around.

_"Wishing Stars?"_ Victor repeated in his head.

Bede turned around and proceeded to walk to the exit.

"If we battle at an official event, then you'll lose."

Victor stared at Bede as he started walking away, feeling like he was beginning to understand the boy a little bit better.

"Hey! I wanna ask you something!" He carried Ace as he ran ahead with Midori and Twilight following behind.

Bede stopped just as he got outside and turned around, bothered. "Would you quit bothering me!?" He hissed.

"You're looking for Wishing Stars, right? Can I ask why?" Victor asked as he went up to him.

Bede scoffed, "Why should I tell someone as unimportant as you?"

"I don't know. I'm just curious." Victor innocently smiled at him.

The arrogant boy narrowed his eyes. "Hmph, how stupid... But I'll be kind enough to amuse you. I'm searching for them under Chairman Rose's orders. So if you find any, I suggest you give them to me."

"Will do!" Victor smiled.

Victor watched as Bede turned around and started walking ahead onto Route 4, where the grass began to turn gold and brick walls started appearing.

"Hey!"

"WHAT IS IT NOW!?" Bede turned around.

"I wanna get to know you better!" Victor said as he caught up.

Twilight shook his head rather disappointed while Midori didn't look so sure if Victor was thinking okay.

"Huh?! Are you an idiot!?" Bede shouted in his face.

Victor just shrugged.

"I mean from your view, apparently."

_"This guy!!!"_ Bede pointed his finger at Victor's face. "I don't want to constantly see you! I don't want to be friends with you! I just want to beat you, and that's it!"

"But... You don't look like you have any friends." Victor answered on a more serious note.

"I don't need them!" Bede turned around with his hands clenched into fists. "All that matters is to be better than everyone else... That's how it was then, and that's how it is now..."

Victor's eyes widened as he picked up on that. _"Wait..."_

"So leave me alone!!" Bede shouted to end their interaction, marching off rather quickly.

"..." Victor stared at Bede as he marched down the path.

He cupped his hand and shouted, "If you need help with anything, you can always come to me!!"

He heard the boy shout in a loud, angry groan.

"Rooki! Rooki!" Twilight chirped at Victor.

"Hm?" Victor glanced down at him. "You really think I should stop getting involved with him?"

"Rookidee!"

"I mean, I can see what you mean, but... I just get the feeling that there's more to him. What do you think, Midori?"

Midori gazed up at him, "Ralts, Ralts."

"Yeah, he is lonely, I can tell. But he seems to prefer it. I wonder if something happened to make him that way...?"

He replayed Bede's words.

_"All that matters is to be better than everyone else... That's how it was then, and that's how it is now..."_

"Hm... I wonder if I'll ever find out."

"Boot..." Ace mumbled in Victor's arms.

"Ah! Ace, you're awake!" He smiled down at him.

"Raboot... Ra?" Ace winced.

"We beat him, your strength really helped us a lot! And don't worry, I'll get you to a pokemon center to get all better!"

Ace let out a breath of relief, but then flinched as he realized that he did so, prompting him to turn his head away with a 'hmph' to make it seem like he didn't care.

_"Good to see you're still cute even when you evolved."_ Victor thought with a close-eyed smile of bliss.

He then pulled out his pokeball, "I'll return you for the rest of the way so you can get some rest."

Ace just nodded as he got absorbed back into his pokeball, to which Victor then put it back and adjusted his beanie.

"Now then... To Turrfield!"

____________________________________

**~{Turffield-11:05PM}**

Victor traveled for nearly an hour on Route 4, making his way past the golden grass and mossy brick walls.

"I wonder how everyone else is doing?" He mumbled as he walked passed some Pumkaboos and Digletts. He thought about Hop and Gloria, wondered about Marnie, and even had questions on how Sonia was doing on her research.

He turned his head and glanced at both Twilight and Ralts, fending off some Meowths and Electrike.

"You guys need any help?"

"Rooki!!" Twilight refused as he flew down and knocked two Meowths away.

"Ralts!" Midori also said he didn't need help as he teleported to several spots, unleashing blasts of psychic energy at Electrikes each time he did so.

_"Man, Meowths and Electrieks are super aggressive... It's like they don't even care how strong someone is, they'll just come after you even if you don't want to fight..."_

Victor watched as his pokemon fought the wild pokemon off.

"Good job, guys!"

Midori clutched his neck, his throat hurting from using Disarming Voice so many times.

Twilight used his feet to walk, his wings visibly dirty and shaking.

"Oh, wow, you guys really are tired. I did say to let me help." Victor sighed, pulling out two pokeballs. "I'm gonna return you guys because I know you'll just keep on fighting until you pass out."

Twilight and Midori both hung their heads in sighs, letting Victor put them back into their pokeballs.

He turned his head and saw Turffield in the distance, making him grin.

"Yes! Nearly there!"

He took a few steps forward, then hearing the grass rustle.

He sighed, turning to the patch as he saw another group of Meowths come out while grinning, seeing him without any pokemon.

Victor just returned their grins with one of his own.

The Meowths shivered as they detected danger from him, suddenly making them retreat back into the grass.

_"Odd? I'm not that scary, am I? Could it be that the aura I give off when getting ready to fight is sensed by pokemon?"_

Victor looked to have had a realization.

_"Oh yeah, pokemon due tend to run away from those that they can tell are clearly stronger than them out of fear! So since I have some properties of pokemon, it could also apply to me!"_

Victor stopped as something else came to mind.

_"Wait... But Meowths don't even care how strong someone is... They always end up rushing forward. So... Why were they scared of me? I don't even think I look scary..."_

Victor shrugged, then speeding up his pace into a jog to get closer to the small town up ahead. He didn't know it himself, but whenever he got into a battle, he would always give off a dangerous aura that even he didn't realize he emitted.

And as he was getting stronger, the aura seemed to grow.

"Wooloo! Where do you think you're going!?"

"Beeeeeehh!!"

"Hm?" Victor turned his head.

Only for something round to smash right into his face.

"ACK!!" Despite the fluff he felt, the impact of the fast-rolling object had somehow devastatingly smashed right into his face.

Victor was sent back with his eyes completely white and his mouth agape, face even red from the impact. He fell to the ground, different parts of his body twitching.

_"What... What is it with Wooloos and me?"_

"Wooloo!? Look what ya did! How did you even jump up that high while rolling!?" Someone rushed over. "Oi! You alright there?!"

Victor twitchingly turned his head and looked up. He saw a tall, muscular man with a gentle face. He had emerald green eyes and was crouched down beside him in worry.

His eyes lit up as he recognized him and his straw hat, ignoring whatever pain from before and shooting up to his feet.

"Oh! You're Milo! The Turffield Gym Leader!!" Victor exclaimed.

Milo was surprised by how quickly the boy shrugged that impact off, especially since the effects were visible in the form of a red circle on his face.

"My, my, yes, I am. But more importantly, are you alright? You took a rather dangerous Tackle head-on... Literally. Does it hurt?" Milo asked, still concerned with the trainer in front of him.

"It does! But that doesn't matter!" Victor immediately answered with a confident smile waving off any worries, "You're the first Gym Leader I've ever met! I can't wait to fight you later!"

"Oh?" Milo grinned, first picking up the Wooloo that had slammed into Victor. "I knew you looked familiar! You're one of the Gym Challengers from the ceremony. One of the ones endorsed by the champion!"

Victor looked surprised, "Wait, how did you know I was endorsed by the champion?"

"Well, news spread of you guys once other challenges heard it for themselves in the Motostoke Gym Lobby! So now all the other Gym Leaders, including myself, are really excited to fight you guys!"

"I'm excited too! But... Why aren't you in your gym right now?"

Milo's face lit up in worry, "Oh dear, thanks for reminding me! I was off helping find some missing Wooloos for quite a while, there must be quite a line of people waiting!"

"Oh, no..." Victor sighed, wondering how long he'd have to wait.

Milo saw his face and chuckled, "Don't worry, it doesn't take long to beat most of the bunch. You'll be able to fight me in no time!!"

Victor smiled again, "You'll definitely see me there!"

"I look forward to it!" Milo waved at Victor as he ran off, holding the Wooloo in one arm.

The boy did some stretches to hype himself up.

_"Just a little more ahead, and then off to our first challenge!"_

*Bzzzzzzzt!! Bzzzzzt!!*

"Eh?" Victor reached into his pockets as he felt his phone vibrating, pulling it out and checking who was calling him. He looked astonished by who it was but welcomed the call as he answered and started walking again.

"Hey, Sonia! What's up?"

_*Hey, Victor! How's Galar treating you so far?*_

"It's great! My pokemon and I are getting stronger by the second! Any aggressive wild pokemon aren't too much trouble for us!" Victor proudly stated.

_*That's great to hear! Are you getting close to Turffield? Hop and Gloria already passed by and are waiting in line with Marnie to face Milo.*_

"I'm actually _just_ arriving!" Victor stated as he finally took a step in the small, rural town. He saw the stadium in the distance, many fields of wheat and fields of lush grass, and saw the extensive line of trainers waiting ahead.

He smiled at the sight, enjoying every minute of what he could see.

_*Oh! If you're there, then Yamper should be waiting for you in front of the pokemon center!*_

"Huh?" As if on cue, the small pup came running over to Victor.

"Yamp! Yamp!" He jumped up and down to get his attention.

_*Oh, that's must be him! He's going to lead you over to me, I have something to talk to you about. See ya soon!*_

She then hung up right there.

Victor pouted, "She didn't even let me say anything..."

He put his phone away and then crouched down to pet Yamper, the pokemon snuggling against him.

"I'll come with you in a moment, just let me heal my pokemon really quick."

Yamper nodded as backed up.

Victor went into the Pokemon Center and got his pokemon healed up. He also stopped by the Pokemart to pick up more potions and some revives along with them.

"Alright, let's go!"

He went outside and saw Yamper rolling along the ground.

_"So cute..."_ Victor smiled in bliss.

Yamper saw him come out and hopped back to his feet, "Yamp! Yamp!" He turned around and proceeded to lead Victor along a path. The boy glanced around at tall stones that had markings carved into them, stones that several tourists were examining closely in interest.

Victor then saw familiar ginger hair up ahead, which made him smile as Yamper went right behind his trainer. But his eyes caught sight at what Sonia was currently staring at.

A hill, but not just any hill, this was a hill with strange patterns that Victor remembered reading about in Galar. Yet his memory seemed fuzzy when he tried to remember them.

_"Oh come on, Victor, you've looked at these before. Why can't you remember?"_ He thought.

"Yamp! Yamp!" Yamper barked at Sonia, letting her know that Victor was present.

Sonia turned around and saw Victor there, immediately smiling. She crouched down to her pokemon and rubbed his head, "Thanks, Yamper!"

"Yamp!" He jumped in happiness and then started to run around.

Hearing Sonia call him 'Yamper,' a sudden thought came up for Victor.

"Hey Sonia, do you actually nickname your pokemon?"

"Oh, I did have nicknames for them. But Yamper didn't really want one. Every time I tried to give him a name, he would always growl until I call him Yamper again." Sonia answered.

"Really?" Victor curiously gazed down at Yamper, who was just rolling on the ground. _"I wonder why?"_

He was going to whisper the question to the pokemon directly, but Sonia got Victor's attention again.

"Anyway! I called you here cause I wanted to hear your thoughts on something!" Sonia ushered him over to the fence, where she pointed at the hill with the unusual designs.

"What do you think of that geoglyph?"

"Oh, god, weird words!"

"The design on the hill." Sonia said instead.

"Oh."

Victor turned to where Sonia meant and put his hands on the fence, gazing at the markings. "Well, those little shapes look like people, but then there is that big figure... So could it be a pokemon Dynamaxing?"

"Yup! Good to see we're on the same page!" Sonia removed Victor's beanie and started rubbing his head once again while the boy enjoyed the feeling but continued staring at the carvings on the hill. 

"So there was Dynamaxing even long ago? But the circle right there with the bolts of lightning coming off... What could that be?"

Sonia turned back to the hill too. "This theory is a long shot, but... I think it might be a representation of the Darkest Day."

She removed her hand from Victor's head and put his beanie back on.

"Thanks for that."

Sonia just smiled before continuing on about the Darkest Day.

"A long time ago... a great, black storm covered the Galar Region. Giant pokemon ran rampant, and Galar was in chaos. But what exactly _was_ the black storm they called the 'Darkest Day?' What connections does it have for dynamaxing?"

"The black storm could've been something that provided the pokemon with Dynamax energy, something with enough energy to cause so many pokemon to Dynamax and rampage." Victor theorized. 

He then pointed at a circle design with what looked to be lightning coming off of it. "That right there, whatever it is. That seems to be emitting those bolts, which could represent the energy."

"Ah! I see what you mean!" Sonia had sparkles in her eyes as she excitingly shook Victor back and forth, "So I just have to look into the sights of the legends to figure what 'that' really is! It could be the source where Dynamax energy came from!"

"Looks like you got a better idea of what you're looking for." Victor chuckled as he managed to grab Sonia's arms to keep her from shaking him.

"Yup! Thanks for your thoughts, Victor!" Sonia patted his head before reaching into her pocket, "As thanks, I'll give ya a league card!"

"League card? Oh, I forgot about those." Victor chuckled as he received a card from Sonia.

He saw that it was Milo's league card, with the number **831** and his signature on it.

Victor blinked, then glancing back up at Sonia. "Wait a moment... I never did ask, but will we trainers have our own league cards?"

Sonia looked shocked, "Ah! I was supposed to tell you about that at the Motostoke Pokemon Center! But with the addition of Gloria, we just passed by!"

"Eh?" Victor was confused by what she meant by that.

"Ahem... Oh well, I'll just tell you what it is! Of course, you know the pokemon PC box, correct?"

"Well, of course. I haven't used it to switch out any pokemon, nor do I think I'll even be capturing that many pokemon." Victor answered.

Sonia raised a finger up, "Well, trainers can also make League Cards on them!"

"Oooooooh! So that's how!" Victor said with a punch to his palm from realizing it. "I'll try that out in the future!"

"Good! For the record, since Milo's signature is on that League Card, it'll actually be worth a lot more online."

"Oh, really? Why are you giving it to me?" Victor asked her curiously.

"I just see you more of a person that would take the time to do a pointless task like collecting all the rest of the important League Cards with signatures!" Sonia answered with an innocent smile.

_"Hold on, what's that supposed to mean?"_ Victor stared at her with a blank expression.

"But anyway, you'll be facing off against Milo, aren't you? I'll be rooting for you!" 

"Aren't you gonna watch me?" Victor asked her.

Sonia bowed apologetically, "Sorry, I'm gonna get a move on to Hulbury, but I'll definitely watch you there!" 

"Oh, alrighty then!" Victor adjusted his beanie and waved Sonia goodbye, taking off for Turffield stadium.

"When you make your League Card, you can make as many copies as you want in exchange for some change! Be sure to get me one!" Sonia called to him.

"Okey, dokey!!" Victor shouted.

He kept running down the path, staring at Milo's League Card and making his way right to the stadium.

_"I've got a Fire and a Flying type, so I should have a huge advantage against Milo."_

"Victor!!!"

The boy glanced ahead and saw Hop jumping while waving his arms and Gloria standing beside him, with Luna peeking out from her backpack. There was no longer a large number of people gathered around the entrance of the stadium, making Victor believe that they were inside waiting.

"Oh, hey guys! Did you take the challenge already?"

As an answer, Hop grinned and suddenly threw something in the air, the item flipping many times before Hop caught it and presented it forward.

"Yup! I got the Grass-Gym badge on the first try! Praise me!" Hop grinned.

"Wow! You _didn't_ fail!"

"NOT LIKE THAT!"

"Hehe, sorry, I couldn't resist." Victor laughed.

"I got it too, Victor!" Gloria smiled as she pulled out the same badge.

"Nice job, I knew you guys would be able to do it!"

Hop wagged his finger, "Tsk, tsk! Victor, Victor, this the part where you reward Gloria for doing such a good job! For fighting for her very best in her first challenge just so she could impress-!"

Gloria's eyes flashed red as she suddenly jumped forward while spinning a leg in the air.

"TATSUMAKI SENPUKYAKU!" Her spinning leg kicked Hop three times before sending him flying.

"ACK!" Landed right on his head, turning black and white before falling to his back.

Victor stared at Gloria with a blank face. _"Well, that's a new one..."_

The girl angrily panted at Hop before turning back to Victor with an innocent smile.

"S-So, what were we talking about?"

"Hop suggested that I should give you a reward before you probably made him lose a few brain cells."

Gloria turned back to Hop, then back to Victor with a question mark on her head, "What brain cells?"

_"Ouch."_

"But anyway, just ignore him, you don't have to give me a reward, just get in there and win that badge!! Hop and I will watch from our phones!" She cheered for him.

"G-Good... luck... Victor..." Hop groaned from the ground as he raised a shaky hand up and gave him a thumbs up.

"Thanks, guys! I'll do you proud!" Victor marched to the door but stopped one last time.

"Oh, right! What about Marnie? How did she do?"

Hop sat up with a grin, "Oh, she was actually the first to fight Milo! She's pretty good! Afterward, we congratulated her, and she decided to wait for us at Hulbury!"

"Hmm, Hulbury... The next town? I thought she'd want to go with us...?"

"Get in there, Victor! Don't embarrass yourself!" Gloria playfully pushed him in, cutting off any thoughts of Marnie.

The next thing Victor knew, he was standing in a lobby that looked somewhat identical to the Motostoke Gym lobby, only the theme was green and there was no receptions desk but rather a door that led to the stadium.

There were other people in the stadium, from other trainers competing to those just curious to watch what kinds of people are around. He stepped along the green carpet before his eyes caught sight of a familiar tall man with a pokeball head.

"Oh, hey, Ball Guy!" Victor cheerfully walked up to the man.

A few people gave him weird looks for willingly going to talk to that man.

The living pokeball started to tap dance.

"Hey there! Thanks for rolling by to have a chat with your mate- Ball Guy!"

"It's good to see you too. You really did manage to get over to the first gym already. How did you get here so fast?"

Ball Guy spun in place, "Easy! I used the Flying Taxi Service!"

"Oh yeah, I forgot about those." Victor mumbled.

"You're off to take on your very first gym leader, aren't you? As a form of luck and as a sign of our friendship, I'll give you a wonderful pokeball!"

"Ooooo!" Victor's eyes sparkled as he watched Ball Guy pull out a half light-green, half white pokeball with four orange spots and one yellow spots on the front.

"Here ya go! This here is a Friend Ball! It's a pokeball that acts as a physical symbol of friendship between pokemon and humans! If you catch a pokemon in it, sometimes they'll realize that they'll be treated more special than other pokemon and will want to become your friend easier!"

"Ooo! I like the green! It's pretty!" Victor tossed the pokeball up and down with a smile.

"I know, right? I hope you continue making fast friends with pokemon like how fast we became friends!" Ball Guy tapped dance and struck a pose with some jazz hands. "I'll be watching your battle from here, do your best!"

"Thanks, Ball Guy! But one last question." Victor said as he put away the Friend Ball. "Did you get the umbrella, like I told you?"

Ball Guy pointed finger guns at him, "I realized later why you wanted me to get one, but don't worry! As long as I'm in a gym, no one would dare mess up the Pokemon League Mascot! So I'll be fine!"

_"At least he's aware of the risk of being bullied..."_

Victor formed a reassuring smile.

"Alright, but if there's any trouble you're having, then be sure to tell me when we meet again in another gym!"

"I'll be fine, but I appreciate your concern! Good luck!" 

Victor bowed politely and made it to the entrance door for the challenge, where a female staff member in green-themed clothes smiled at him.

He grinned.

"Let's get this started."


	11. Battles, Battles, and More Battles

Victor tugged at his white challenger uniform as he walked on a long green rug down the hall.

"You guys ready?" He asked his three pokemon walking beside him.

"Rookidee." Twilight nodded.

"Raboot." Ace sighed with his paws in his pouch as if it was a sweater pocket.

"Ralts." Midori nodded confidently.

The four of them came upon a circular door with a leaf symbol on it, to which Victor grinned.

"I'll be counting on you guys!"

The door automatically opened as they got near, and the first thing Victor saw was a world of green. The room's dome was all green, the floor was covered in green grass, and many green trees were spread out and growing in the area.

But the trainer's eyes mainly caught sight of rolls of straw stacked on top of each other to make blockades. In addition to this, right at the starting area there were several Wooloo all happily rolling around with their bodies.

Victor carefully walked down the stairs with his pokemon hopping down with him, then walking over to a blonde man in a black and white referee uniform.

The man straightened his back and raised a hand proudly, "Hello Gym Challenger, and welcome to Turffield's Gym Challenge! The task for this challenge before you can reach the Gym Leader in the stadium is... this!"

He pointed his hand to the hay and the bunch of Wooloo.

"To chase our unruly Wooloo!"

Victor had a blank expression on his face.

"Eh?"

The man continued, "You must lead these Wooloo to the blockades we've made from our toughest bales of straw!"

Victor saw the big arrow with **0/20** on it and a blue area on the floor with Wooloo drawings on it, everything in front of the straw blockades.

"Once you lead the Wooloo to the designated area, they'll take it upon themselves to clear the blockade for you!"

The man then put a hand on his chest.

"I serve here as the referee of the challenge and it's also my job to report the results to the League HQ! I should mention that once you start this challenge, you are only allowed to have one pokemon out at a time unless stated otherwise! Once you return two of your other pokemon, then we'll begin!"

"Eh? Pooey..." Victor grumbled. He turned back to his three pokemon, kneeling down to them. "Twilight and Ace both have advantages against grass-types, so I'll wait until facing Milo to bring you two out."

He returned both mentioned pokemon, leaving Midori behind and looking nervous.

"You're up, Midori!" Victor grinned.

The pokemon nodded in understanding.

The referee of the challenge raised his hand once more.

"Then let the Turffield Gym Challenge begin!!"

Victor and Midori bolted forward to the scattered flock of Wooloo.

"Come on, you Wooloo! Get over there!"

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori joined him in shouted the flock to move.

Victor and Midori took opposite sides of the area, chasing Wooloo and making them roll along the ground towards the intended blue area. With each Wooloo placed onto the blue, the numbers on the arrow went up.

"Baaaaa!!!!" 

Once all twenty Wooloo were on the blue area, they all huddled up together before launching forward, slamming into the blockade of straw together and sending it flying to clear the path.

"Nice! The next one!" Victor shouted as he chased after the Wooloo once more.

He thought that since the Wooloo were bunched up, it would be easy to take them to the next blockade.

"Baaaa! Baaaa!"

But then they flock suddenly dispersed.

"Eh!? Where are you guys going!?" 

"Yamp! Yamp!"

Victor heard and then saw a Yamper running around, barking at the Wooloo to scare them into different directions.

_"Oh, it's to mess us up!"_

"Midori, Confusion!"

"Ralts!" Midori jumped and put both hands on his head, to which he sent a ball of telekinetic energy at the Yamper.

"Yamp!?"

It hit the pokemon directly, sending him tumbling along the ground with a whine.

Victor stopped just for a moment and bowed politely.

"Sorry!"

He then moved on.

"Now Midori, help me round up these Wooloo again!"

Midori listened and ran around to gather the Wooloo with Victor, jumping and shouting to keep them rolling.

After a few minutes, he managed to get them all to the second blockade, to which the Wooloo all bashed it away once more.

_"I don't see the point of this!"_ Victor thought as he kept running forward.

"Halt!" A trainer wearing a green-themed staff uniform tossed his pokeball. "If you want to continue, you'll have to get through me!"

Out of the pokeball came a Gossifleur.

"Goss!" The pokemon cried.

"Gossifleur, use Leafage!"

"Goss!!" The flower-like pokemon blast a collected ball of leaves at Ralts.

"Jump and use Confusion!"

Ralts jumped over the ball of green and fired a sphere of psychic energy.

It directly hit the Gossifleur on its face, sending it crashing back into its trainer and causing them both to fall to the ground.

"Gah!!"

"Whoops! Sorry!" Victor stopped and bowed again, apologizing before running past the trainer and continuing to chase the bunch of Wooloo.

He then came upon an area where a small maze of hedges set up.

He frowned. _"It'd be a pain if they got separate in the maze... Maybe I should have them follow me instead?"_

Victor then had a funny idea, to which he grinned and jumped high in the air, flying over all the rolling Wooloo.

He landed in front of the group and stuck his arms out to signal them to stop, shocking the rolling sheep.

"Baaa!?"

The Wooloo all stumbled and bumped into each other as they suddenly stopped rolling, their confused eyes staring up at Victor.

"This time, I want all you to follow _my_ lead!"

He stuck his hands up.

Before starting to cartwheel around.

"Onward!"

The group of Wooloo were shocked to see the boy roll pretty fast via cartwheeling, but seeing him brightly roll made all of them put on adorably happy faces like children watching Santa Claus arrive.

"Baaaa! Baaa!" They all ended up rolling after Victor, a surprising matter considering that the Wooloo were typically supposed to be the ones getting chased by a trainer.

"Make sure no one diverts from the pack!" Victor shouted to Midori behind all the Wooloo.

"Ralts!" Midori jumped behind all the Wooloo to let him know he had this.

Victor cartwheeled through the simple maze, his instincts and gymnastic abilities allowing him to roll through while keeping his momentum. It didn't take long before he came out of the exit and arrived at yet another blockade. This was when he then jumped back to his feet, although stumbling a bit out of dizziness.

_"Ugh, I feel a little wobbly..."_ He thought to himself before shaking his head to snap out of it. He then focused on the blockade as the Wooloo rolled passed him to the designated area.

"Oh! I'll help you guys clear the blockade this time!"

"Baaaa!!!" The Wooloo all happily went to the blue area and paused, ready to jump in sync.

"One, two, THREE!" Victor jumped with the Wooloos and used his arm to help bust the blockade away, feeling satisfied as he watched the rolls of hay fly in several directions.

"Nice!!" He ran with the group of rolling Wooloo as they continued onward through the field. He glanced back to see if any of the sheep were left behind but was surprised to see Midori on top of the one in the very back, rolling on top of the white ball of fluff like a circus ball as they rolled forward.

"Pfft!" Victor covered his mouth as he turned forward to focus back on the path.

The group then came upon the end of the course, where two wooden gates opened up on the left and right that allowed the several Wooloo to split up and exit the area.

Midori hopped off the last Wooloo he was rolling on and waved goodbye as the League Staff closed both gates.

"Thanks for your cooperation!" Victor waved to the Wooloo as well.

"Good job, Gym Challenger! I've never seen anything like that before!" One of the staff laughed.

"You'd blend in with a flock of these guys just fine!" The other staff member smiled, being the one with a front-row seat that had watched Victor roll with the Wooloo.

"Thank you!" Victor didn't waste any time running up the stairs at the end of the room with Midori jumping and holding his leg to get carried up. 

"Good luck against Milo!" The staff waved.

Victor and Midori made it to the top of the stairs, where another big circular green door with the grass-gym badge symbol of a leaf was.

"Thanks for helping me gather those Wooloo up Midori!" Victor praised him as he got to the door.

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori answered, letting go of Victor's leg and happily stating that he had a lot of fun.

"Well, I'm glad you enjoyed yourself!"

Blasts of steam and confetti suddenly shot up near them.

**"Gym Mission cleared!"** The referee shouted over an intercom.

Victor turned back and saw the flock of Wooloo staring at him from their pens, all of them happily cheering and even trying to stand on their two bottom feet to peek through the wooden fence. Victor laughed and waved at them as the green door opened behind him.

"Goodbye!!" He and Midori waved as they went inside.

"Baaaaaa!!!!"

Victor walked into a barely lit up rectangular hall, the area dark no doubt for dramatic effect.

After noticing that their destination was just up ahead, both males stopped walking and turned to each other.

"Midori, since Milo is a grass type leader, I think I'm going to bring out Twilight to start. He was pretty left out in that battle against Bede, after all."

Midori nodded happily that he understood.

"Thanks, buddy, I'll see you soon!" Victor returned Midori into his pokeball while tossing out another, to which Twilight came out.

"Rooki." The proud bird stared up as Victor stuck his arm out, offering it to him.

"I'll be relying on you, Twilight."

Twilight flew up and landed on his trainer's arm, firmly planting himself and looking ready.

Victor then proceeded to walk deeper into the hall where he already heard the cheering of the crowd just up ahead. The cheers got louder and louder as he got closer to the bright light of the battle stadium. He didn't feel nervous at all. He felt confident, proud, and especially excited, ready to take on his very first Gym Leader ever.

_"They'll be watching... Mom, Sensei, my friends, and..."_ He frowned. _"No doubt Rainbow Rocket..."_

However, he couldn't help but grin again.

_"But they'll all see that my pokemon are growing stronger."_

**"And now, here is our beloved Grass-type Gym Leader himself once again, Milo!"** The commentator echoed in the stadium.

"Whoops! We better get going!" Victor started running and Twilight jumped off his arm, taking flight just beside his trainer.

Both of them came into a brightly lit stadium where they saw thousands of people in the audience, making Victor stop and stare up in awe as he remembered just how many people come to these things, even if it was only for a new challenger like him.

**"And here is the challenger! Another young trainer endorsed by the champion himself! Here is Victor from the small town of Postwick!"**

_"Oh great, in the end, it's just common knowledge that Leon endorsed me? I'd rather not be that famous just for that..."_

**"The other two trainers endorsed by the champion beat Milo with ease, you almost couldn't tell that he's a Gym Leader!"**

"That's kinda mean..." Milo awkwardly chuckled as he walked towards the middle of the stadium to meet up with his opponent.

Victor waved at the crowd as Twilight circled around him, both of them meeting Milo in the middle of the stadium to reunite.

"Hello Victor, I knew it wouldn't be long before ya came in." The farmer chuckled.

"I guess that's a compliment." Victor said as he placed both hands proudly on his hips.

Twilight landed on Victor's head, gazing around at the large crowd.

"Oh, a Rookidee? Is that your first pokemon? Shouldn't you be keeping him hidden until the battle starts?" Milo curiously asked.

"Meh, that doesn't really matter to me, because I know I'll win regardless!" Victor confidently responded.

"Is that so? We'll see about that." Milo chuckled.

**"Would our fighters please step into the outer circle?"** The announcer told them.

Victor and Milo turned their backs to each other, then taking several steps away to get to the area they were told to go.

Both then stopped, turned back around, and grinned.

There was a momentary pause as the crowd energetically cheered to see what the last of the champion endorsed trio had to offer.

**"Let the Turffield Gym Leader Battle... begin!"**

Twilight flapped his wings to soar above Victor while Milo tossed out a pokeball that released a Gossifleur.

"Twilight, use Hone Claws first!"

Twilight's talons flash in white light as if suddenly sharpened, boosting up his attack and accuracy.

"Gossifleur, use Magical Leaf!" Milo pointed.

"Goss!!" The flowering pokemon jumped into the air and fired a few leaves that spun violently towards Twilight.

"Cut right through them with Fury Attack!"

Twilight nose-dived down and used his beak to pierce through the flying leaves, charging through or just avoiding the pieces of green.

"Gossifleur, use Rapid Spin to drag him out of the air!"

"Goss!" The flower suddenly started rapidly spinning in place, surrounding herself in a small twister that started trying to pulling in Twilight.

Twilight started rapidly flapping his wings to push himself back, trying not to get sucked in.

Victor grinned, "Head straight in and pierce through! I know you're strong enough to fly right through it!"

"Rooki!" Twilight's beak suddenly started glowing and he dove straight into the small twister. As Victor knew, even though the change of winds did mess with Twilight's trajectory in the air, his pokemon was still able to go at such a speed and power that he pierced through the twister and slammed his beak into Gossifleur.

"Goss!?" The flower pokemon was sent flying from the direct hit, the supereffective attack knocking it out in one blow as her twister dispersed.

**"Nani!? Nani!? Milo's first pokemon is already down!?!"**

Milo returned his Gossifleur back into its pokeball.

"Well now, that Rookidee of yours is actually scary strong for its first form."

"I know, right!? He's a fighter!" Victor agreed as he waved up at Rookidee flying proudly.

"But we're not gonna be done in without a fight! We're tough as weeds!" 

"But I pulled them out easily in my mom's garden all the time!" Victor answered with a laugh.

"Oh, you're asking for it!" Milo laughed back as he pulled out his second pokeball. "It's Dynamax time! You're about to be uprooted!"

"Eh?"

Milo's Dynamax band suddenly sparkled in different shades of pink color, then his pokeball grew over three times its size with the same sparkling pink colors around it.

He patted his large pokeball with a grin, before then throwing it forward and opening up to release a pokemon.

"Go, Eldegoss!"

It was a pokemon of green and white colors. The white of its body was a large clump of cotton on the pokemon's head while the lower part of it resembled a green cloak of leaves. It even had a scarf of what appeared to be yellow leaves. However, since it was Dynamaxed, the pokemon grew big enough to cover nearly half the field, a tremendous sight to behold.

**"Eldegoss!!"** Its voice echoed throughout the stadium, overpowering the many cheers of excitement from the crowd.

Victor stared at the large pokemon in awe, putting both of his hands over his cheeks.

"OH, MY, GOOOOOOOOD!!!!" He shouted in a sudden change over dramatic and manly voice.

Twilight sweatdropped, not knowing whether to feel nervous by this giant pokemon or disappointed by how his trainer reacted.

Victor then saw his own Dynamax band glowing pink, the boy raising his wrist close to his eyes as they widened in realization.

"That's right... I _can_ Dynamax!"

Outside, Gloria and Hop noticed the look on their friend's face and comedically fell to the ground.

_"HE FORGOT!?!"_

_"I haven't even gone to any Raid Dens yet!"_ Victor also realized.

Milo chuckled, "What's wrong? Aren't you gonna Dynamax? If not, then we're coming right for ya! Eldegoss, use Max Strike!"

**"Goss!!"** The giant Eldegoss jumped in place and slammed the ground, to which sparks of energy went across the battlefield. Then the ground in the area under Twilight suddenly erupted in energy, bursting upward into the sky and enveloping the flying pokemon into a giant pillar of light.

"Ah! Twilight!" Victor shouted in worry.

The boy was stunned, as it was the first time he experienced the power of Dynamax right in front of him. Seeing the bright colors up close, feeling the ground shake, and feeling the powerful winds produced by just the Dynamax pokemon's presence had him realize how destructive such power can be.

When the pillar of light cleared, Twilight fell from the sky and crashed all the way to the ground.

Milo grinned, "That's the way, Eldegross!"

"You alright, Twilight!?" Victor called to his pokemon over the crowd cheering.

Twilight panted on the ground but managed to force himself to move. He slowly raised himself up, the flying type in evident pain as his body shivered while moving.

_"Not many pokemon can get directly hit by a Dynamax attack and get up, that Rookidee's tough."_ Milo thought.

Victor smiled as he saw his Rookidee get on its feet, shakily open its wings, and let out caws to show that he wasn't down yet.

"Rooki! Rooki!!!"

Victor felt proud of him, but he knew that it will really hurt Twilight if he kept fighting despite being already terribly injured.

"Thanks, Twilight, but... I'ma switch you out."

"Rookie!?!" Twilight turned back to his trainer in shock.

"Sorry! I know you mustered all your strength to keep going, but you won't be able to fly well and you'll be in constant pain! I can't do that to you!"

"Rooki-!" He was cut off as Victor returned him, the boy then bringing out his other pokeball.

"I'll apologize later! Now then..."

Victor glanced down at his glowing Dynamax Band.

"Time to bring out my _Ace!_ "

His Dynamax Band coursed power into his pokeball, which grew three times its normal size in his hand.

"It's Dynamax time!"

The large pokeball's colors brightly sparkled in pink.

Milo's eyes widened as he noticed something different about Victor from usual trainers Dynamaxing their pokemon. There was the typical pokeball growing, the bright colors it forms, the feeling of power and energy all around, but...

He had never seen anyone's eyes change to pink.

He saw this only for a split-second as Victor spun to throw his pokeball, his eyes pink before suddenly changing back to brown as he threw the large sphere into the air, which released a rabbit pokemon that grew to tremendous size.

Ace's feet smashed onto the ground as he landed, the pokemon growing just as large as Eldegoss.

**"Raboot!!"**

_"Was I just seeing things?"_ Milo wondered as he then focused up at the giant rabbit.

"Ace! You good!? Remember, you won't be able to move around as fast or jump as high because of your size!!" Victor shouted up to him.

**"Boot! Raboot!"** Ace called, looking down at himself to notice how big he's gotten.

_"While Dynamaxing does increase a pokemon's power and stamina, it does restrict mobility due to the large size... But I'll win regardless!"_

"Alright, Ace! Let's finish this with one attack!!" Victor shouted.

**"Raboot!!"** Ace squatted as flames started to pick up around his body.

Milo raised an arm.

"Let's unleash our final attack too, Eldegoss!! Use Max Strike once again!!"

**"Eldegoss!!!"** The pokemon once again jumped, sending energy through the ground and under Ace.

"Use Max Flare!!" Victor shouted as he made a fist.

Ace pulled back his giant foot, a barrage of flames surrounding it.

**"Ra-BOOT!!"** He swung his leg forward as if kicking, to which a giant beam of flames blasted ahead.

The ground under Ace erupted from Eldegoss's attack, while the barrage of flames he created rushed forward and connected to his grass type opponent.

The audience covered their eyes as the bright light from the flames of Max Flare and the additional light from the energy of Max Strike brightened the stadium much more than expected.

Everything then turned to silence, as it was moments like these where everyone would anxiously wonder what happened to either pokemon through the giant clouds of dust and smoke.

When the dust settled, Eldegoss was on the floor back into his standard size. He had swirls on his eyes and was laying on his back as Ace remained large and held his own arm in some pain from taking a direct Dynamax Attack.

Milo chuckled as he rubbed some sweat off his face, "I see... The power of grass has wilted."

**"Both of Milo's pokemon are down! The challenger wins!!"**

The crowd roared at the results, and Ace suddenly shrunk back down to normal while Victor looked somewhat confused.

"Wait, you only used two pokemon!?"

Milo walked over to him with a smile, "Well, this is the first gym, after all, so it makes sense for it to be simpler. I guess I should've told you that before we started."

"Oooooh." Victor nodded, understanding what he meant.

Victor met him in the middle of the field with Ace uncaringly walking beside him.

"This must've been a fulfilling pokemon battle for you. It seemed to be the first time you ever Dynamaxed." Milo deduced.

"Yea, I honestly forgot that was a thing, hehe." Victor admitted as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.

"Raboot..." Ace sighed.

Victor deadpanned, _"My own pokemon just called me an idiot."_

Milo curiously tilted his head. "So about Dynamaxing, how did it feel?"

Victor turned back to Milo with an immediate answer. "It was amazing! I felt my excitement grow more than ever before! It was like something was coursing through my veins!"

"Oh, really? Never heard a description like that before." Milo laughed. "But anyway, time for your reward! As proof that you've defeated me, a Gym Leader, allow me to present you with your first badge! Turffield Gym's Grass Badge!"

Milo pulled out a badge with a leaf design on it, captivating Victor's eyes as he accepted the proof of his first gym victory.

"Thank you very much!" He glanced down at his Raboot. "Look Ace! We did it! We got our first badge!"

Ace just rolled his eyes and looked away.

"Aaaaaaww!!!! You're so cute when you act like you don't care!" Victor quickly reached down and snatched up Ace, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his cheek against his.

"Raboot!?!" Ace kept trying to push Victor back as he turned red in a mixture of embarrassment and annoyance, even kicking his trainer on the chest repeatedly to try and make him let go.

Victor just laughed it off as he kept hugging him.

Milo chuckled at the sight and happily offered a handshake to him.

"Congratulations, Victor."

Victor held Ace in his left arm as he took Milo's hand with his right hand.

"Thank you for the battle!"

Milo curiously stared at Victor as they shook hands for quite a while.

_"This boy really does seem to be something special. I've never heard anyone say that they felt something go through their veins when Dynamaxing. Was that just to express how pumped up he felt?"_

* * *

**~{Turffield Gym Lobby-12:17PM}~**

"I already have your league card from a friend! It's even signed. Thank you though!" Victor said to Milo back in the lobby after the Gym Leader offered one of his trainer cards to him.

"Oh? I see. It's just customary for Gym Leaders to hand challengers their league cards upon being beaten."

"I'll keep that in mind!" Victor smiled.

"Victor!" Two voices called behind him.

Victor and Milo turned to see Gloria and Hop rushing to the boy, excited.

"Nice! You got through that easily! Milo was nothing!" Hop laughed.

"Why do I feel hurt by that?" Milo awkwardly chuckled.

"Great job!" Gloria smiled brightly.

"Thanks, guys!" Victor smiled back. "But shouldn't you've already gone to Hulbury? You really didn't have to wait for me."

"Yeah, I probably should've just gone, it would have been better for me to go ahead and finish the Hulbury gym." Hop admitted.

_"How blunt..."_ Victor and Gloria sweatdropped.

"But then again, of course I wanted to see how strong my rivals were! And the first gym is special, so I wanted to stay here to make sure you wouldn't disappoint me and lose it!"

Victor smiled, "But, I guess now we go at it alone. Sorry that I didn't watch your first Gym Leader fights, but I was, er... busy." He chuckled, remembering the encounter with Rainbow Rocket.

"Don't worry, you can always rewatch them online at the official Gym Challenge website!" Hop pointed out.

"Sure, maybe I'll do that later."

Milo chuckled, "So this is the group endorsed by the champion all together? You're all pretty strong and interesting. But if you want to make it to Hulbury by today, then I suggest you all get a move on before it gets too dark."

"Good idea! I'll see you guys over there with my second badge by the time you arrive! Good luck!" Hop suddenly bolted out of the lobby, leaving the others behind.

"Wha- This isn't a race!" Gloria shouted angrily, then chasing after him to knock some sense into his habit of dashing away.

Victor chuckled and turned back to the grass type Gym Leader. "I guess I should be heading out too. See you later, Milo! I'll come back and visit."

"Now aren't ya a thoughtful one? I'll look forward to it." Milo grinned.

Victor made his way out of the lobby, waving at people in there clapping at him for his victory.

_"I should be able to get to Hulbury in no time!"_

* * *

**~{Route 5-2:25PM}~**

_"Ooooooooor not!!!"_

"Ace! Flame Charge into Maractus!!"

"Raboot!" Ace burst into flames and rammed his elbow right into a Maractus, a cactus-like pokemon with two large earlike extensions with pink flows on both.

"Twilight, use Pluck on that Fearow!"

Twilight shot straight up and jabbed his bright beak right into a flying Fearow's stomach, making its eyes bulge before it was sent spinning back.

Victor ran on Route 5, rolling on the ground to duck under a Sludge Bomb that came at him and then using his hands to push himself off the ground to barely dodge a Mandibuzz trying to catch him in its beak.

"Midori! Get these dark types off me!" Victor shouted as he landed on the ground and turned his back to an incoming Scrafty, throwing him over his shoulder as he got near and sending it crashing into a tree.

"RAAAAAA!!!" Midori used Disarming Voice to blast away a Thievul and Mandibuzz pressuring Victor, the super effective attack being enough to send them flying.

"Thanks!" Victor then jumped right to a Pangoro, "High Jump Kick!"

His legs shined white and he connected his knee right into the Pangoro's stomach, the pokemon looking sick as it was sent flying back.

"Pang!!" The panda-like pokemon grunted as he crashed into a tree.

When Victor landed, he turned to the group that had brought these pokemon that weren't from this region, more Rainbow Rocket Grunts.

"Are you guys crazy!? We're on a Route path! Trying to get me here is risky, what if someone sees us!?"

One of the Grunts smirked.

"Don't worry, we made sure to have some guys hold off the area. Ain't nobody coming unless you knock us out here."

"That's still risky!" Victor snarled as he jumped, spun in the air, and swung the heel of his foot upon the side of a Kanto Persian's head.

"P-PER-!" With a push, Victor swung the Persian off and into one of the Grunts.

"And _really_ annoying!" Victor finished with a growl.

Twilight did some loop de loops and corkscrews in the air to avoid several projectiles, feeling pressured to avoid attacks from several flying pokemon.

"Crobat, use Air Cutter!"

"Pelipper, Water Gun!"

"Xatu, Psychic!"

The flying types all blasted their attacks at Twilight, the tiny bird pokemon desperately maneuvering around to avoid them. But at one point, the blades of the wind attacks struck Twilight from the sky, making him spiral downward towards the ground.

"Twilight!" Victor dashed forward to catch him, but a Bisharp landed in his path and attempted to slash at him with Metal Claw.

"Bish!"

Victor glared at him and screeched to a halt while forming purple aura-like claws on both hands. 

"Dragon Claw!" He shouted as he raised both arms and blocked the attempted slash from the pokemon. Sparks flew as their attacks collided, with the Bisharp trying to push down while Victor tried to push him back, feeling his irritation grow.

"Get... Off!" He forcefully used his claws to moved Bisharp's arms out of the way, then jumping and kneeing him under his chin.

"Bi-sharp!" It cried in pain as it was uppercut up into the sky and out of Victor's way.

At the same time, Twilight neared the ground as the enemy flying pokemon came at him.

"Rooki..." It grumbled, feeling angry that these pokemon were getting the best of him. "Rooki!"

His eyes became fully open.

"ROOKIIIIII-!!!!"

He suddenly started shining blue, and his body started changing shape. Bigger wings, larger talons, and his body getting longer to become about two feet.

Victor glanced up at him in awe.

"He's evolving!"

Twilight then flapped its wings and flew up, the glowing blue colors disappearing to reveal his new look.

"Corvisquire!!" He cawed.

Everyone was still for a moment as they stared at the newly evolved pokemon, a spectacle always amazing to see.

"Why didn't you evolve during our battle with Milo!?!" Victor suddenly shouted as he used the chance of distraction to grab the Kantonian Persian by the tail and start spinning him around.

"Cor!!" Twilight shouted back.

"Huh!? You were about to before I returned you!? You can tell when you're gonna evolve!?!" He shouted as he mustered his strength to fling the Persian right into a Scrafty that was just recovering. "Well SORRY! I won't do it again! But for now, use that strength to keep the air for yourself!"

Twilight suddenly flew faster than before, beak glowing bright white from Pluck as he rammed into a Crobat, sending it falling down.

"Cor! Cor! Squire!" He cawed.

Midori suddenly used Teleport to appear right on top of Twilight, landing on the pokemon's back and riding him with a smile.

"Ralts! Ralts!"

Twilight's eyes peaked back as he seemed to smile at Midori.

"Cor! Cor!"

He then flew around with Midori on his back, the Fairy-Psychic type unleashing balls of psychic energy or projecting Disarming Voice at the pokemon around like a gunner.

In the meantime, Ace was blazing all over the place from the additional speed he gained from spamming Flame Charge. He jumped around using Double Kick and Ember to strike pokemon down, managing to keep up against them. He jumped, kicked a Raticate right on his head, charged right into a Beedrill with his elbow, and then did flips to avoid blasts of Water Guns directed at him.

It didn't take long before nearly all of the Grunts were taken down.

"And... There!!" Victor slammed his foot on the side of a Grunt's face.

"ACK!" The grunt was sent flying onto a pile of other Grunts that had tried to run away, only to have been knocked out by Victor.

Victor turned to the last conscious Grunt, who had fallen on his behind and looked somewhat scared of him.

"I-I surrender!" He said with his arms raised.

Victor stared at him as the newly evolved Twilight landed beside him with Midori and Ace regrouping.

"Good call." Victor told him.

He then glanced around at the unconscious pokemon.

"Whoops, maybe I should've kept those Grunt's conscious to have them return their pokemon..."

He turned back to the Grunt, "Do me a favor and round up all your friends' pokemon."

"A-Alright!" The Grunt rushed over and grabbed the other Grunt's pokeballs, returning the fainted pokemon back into their pokeballs.

At the same time, Victor praised his own pokemon.

"Good job, guys! Wow, are we so much stronger than before! We didn't have as much trouble against such a large group of these guys as last time!"

Midori cheerfully smiled as he jumped off of Twilight's back. "Ralts! Ralts!"

Victor then rustled through Twilight's feathers, "Amazing job Twilight! You evolved too, just like I knew you would! You're amazing!"

Instead of looking happy or proud, Twilight jumped up flapping his wings and repeatedly pecked Victor on the head in anger.

Cor! Cor! Cor!"

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow!!" Victor winced from each peck, soon getting forced to the ground. "You're still angry about returning you during that battle with Milo!?!"

"Cor! Cor!" Twilight stopped pecking him and turned his head away with a 'hmph.'

"I'm sorry... I... won't do it again..." Victor groaned as he weakly raised a hand.

Ace rolled his eyes while Midori somewhat shivered from his companion's sudden violence.

Victor then stood back up and pulled out his phone with a sigh, "Guess I'm calling the Pokemon Staff hotline... I hope nothing will distract us again when we start heading to Hulbury..."

* * *

**~{Route 5 Bridge-4:56PM}~**

"I should stop saying those things..."

Victor weakly grunted as he walked up to Route Five's brick bridge that marked a checkpoint that he was getting close to Hulbury. He had dirt marks all over him with his pokemon returned into their pokeballs because of how tired they were. For several hours, the group either had to go help pokemon in trouble, or had to fight off against more Team Rainbow Rocket Grunts that were sent after him on the surprisingly long path of Route 5.

Victor rested on the side of the long bridge, where he turned his gaze at the landscape and appreciated the view.

He saw the rest of the Wild Area spreading farther than the eye could see. 

"Such an amazing view..." Victor sighed in bliss, feeling less tired. He saw a desert area, small lakes, trees, rocky structures, and so much more over the vast Wild Area's horizon, making him excited to visit those parts in the future.

He was snapped out of his thoughts from a sudden voice, "There you are, Victor!"

Victor turned ahead of the bridge to the source of the voice, where he saw Hop standing there with a big grin on his face.

"What took you so long?" the champion's younger brother asked of him.

_"Should I even mention Rainbow Rocket? Have they made a name for themselves here yet?"_ Victor wondered.

"Er, I got busy helping out some pokemon." He awkwardly laughed.

"Oh, that's right, you can understand them. Forgot about that." Hop nodded.

"Heh heh, yeah... Anyway, what are you still doing here? Shouldn't you be in Hulbury taking on the Gym Leader?"

Hop just grinned and pulled out the Water Badge, "Already done!"

"Did I take that long getting here!?!" Victor shouted with bulging eyes.

"You sure did! I'm sure even Gloria is already fighting Nessa as we speak!" Hop laughed.

"Man, I guess I should get over there before the sky turns too dark..." Victor said as he started taking steps forward.

But as he got closer to Hop, the boy raised a hand forward in a halting way.

"Hold it, Victor! I should warn you now! If you get any closer..." He pulled out a pokeball. "Then, we're going to have a pokemon battle!"

"..."

Victor turned right on his heels.

"Have a nice day then."

"YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO AGREE!!" Hop shouted with an angry pout, even stomping his foot repeatedly.

"Pfft!" Victor muffled a laugh, turning his head back to Hop. "Sorry, I had to."

"Geez! Stop messin' with me!" Hop comedically waved his arms up and down like a toddler in a tantrum.

"Alright, fine. I see you wanna fight. May I ask why though?" Victor asked.

Hop stopped moving his arms, grinning again.

"We're both Gym Challengers who've earned ourselves a Grass Badge! And now I even got the water badge, so I wanna see if I can beat you! You and I actually haven't even fought in a one on one battle yet, so this will be perfect training for us!"

"Alright. But give me a minute!" Victor took off his big backpack and placed onto the ground, rummaging through it.

_"I have to heal my pokemon first..."_

* * *

**~{Hulbury Stadium- Gym Challenge}~**

Gloria was in her gym uniform and stood in the rectangular hallway that would lead to the Hulbury stadium, where she would soon fight Nessa. She stared down at one of her pokemon, the female alternate colored Ralts that she had named Luna, the one that she had received since Victor had already chosen to go with the other Ralts.

"You didn't fight at all during our first gym battle against Milo... You haven't even fought against any of the wild pokemon we faced..."

Luna averted her trainer's gaze.

Gloria looked sad, "Are... Are you scared of battling?"

Luna just kept her gaze to the ground, so her trainer got on one knee as she concluded that to be the case.

"Hey, look at me."

The pokemon slowly looked up, afraid of what kind of angry look Gloria would have.

Instead, she found a gentle smile from her trainer.

"Everything is going to be alright. I'm scared too..."

Luna looked confused.

"I'm scared of losing... Ever since I decided that I wanted to take the Gym Challenge, I've been afraid of losing _one_ specific battle. If I lose right now, then it'll be fine because it means that I can keep getting stronger and try again anytime. But the battle I'm the most scared to lose... Is against Victor. And I don't mean just any battle I'll have against him, I mean an important battle in the future... I want to be able to beat other gym challengers, I want to be able to beat Hop, but I want to be able to beat Victor the most. Only then can I tell him... something important."

She reached her hand to Luna, who flinched, but let her trainer gently pat her head.

"Even if you're scared of something, there are times where you'll have to face it if you really want something. Like me, I know that I'm going to fight Victor or Hop again... And not just a friendly battle, but in the league... I just have a feeling that we're all going to make it there together. I'll be scared of losing to either of them at that point, but I know I'll have to face those battles if I want to become champion. I know I'll have to face Victor... if I want to tell him how important he is to me. That's why I'm getting stronger now, to make sure I won't lose on that day. No matter how scared I am of the time coming, I'm going to face it so that I can reach my goal."

Luna looked to be entranced by Gloria.

"So Luna, what's your goal? Is it something that you're willing to face your fear of fighting for? Something that you want to be stronger for? It doesn't have to be for me just because I'm your trainer, I just care about what _you_ want as my pokemon. I care about what _you_ want to fight for. Whatever you're fighting for, I'll help you fight for it too. That's what trainers and pokemon do."

Luna stared down into her small hands, thinking about what she did want to fight for.

"Ralts..." She thought about getting saved by Midori, who didn't hesitate to risk his life to help her, a random pokemon, despite having the chance of being killed with her. She thought about how ashamed she was as she had just been wanting to avoid fighting in general, ending up in others protecting her.

"Look... I'll return you into your pokeball for now, but... I'm hoping that you can fight not for me, but for _yourself_ later." Gloria kindly smiled.

Luna nodded, wanting some time to think.

* * *

**~{5:04 PM}~**

Hop sat on the ground patiently as he waited for Victor to finish healing up his pokemon. 

Victor sprayed the last bit of a potion on Twilight and rustled his feathers with a smile. "And... There we go! How do you guys feel?" 

"Corvisquire!"

"Raboot..."

"Ralts!" 

Hop grinned across from Victor. "So now your Rookidee is evolved like your Raboot?"

"Yup! Midori might be a ways off from evolving, but I know he's getting there too!" Victor grinned as he patted his Ralts on the head.

"Well, let's help him reach that point with a battle!" Hop shot back up to his feet. "Conga and Sky evolved too, so this is gonna be great!"

"You guys up for it?" Victor asked his three pokemon, who all nodded, despite still looking somewhat tired from all the early battling. 

"Great, let's show Hop how much we've grown."

He stood up straight and turned to Hop, who already had his pokeball in hand with an excited smile.

"Let's have a taste of what a Gym Badge Holder can do!" 

Hop tossed his pokeball and Victor pointed forward.

"Ace, you're up!"

"Wooloo, I choose you!"

Ace jumped forward as Hop's Wooloo came out of his pokeball.

"Raboot!"

"Baaaa!!"

Upon both pokemon landing, Hop took the initiative to make the first move.

"Wooloo, use Tackle!"

Wooloo didn't hesitate to roll at Ace with his body.

Victor narrowed his eyes, "Use Ember and Double Kick!"

Ace formed a ball of fire on his foot and kicked it straight at Wooloo coming towards him.

It directly hit the sheep pokemon with a small explosion of flames, causing him to cry in pain and tumble out of his rolling.

Ace then dashed forward and swing his foot upward, booting Wooloo up into the air, then jumping up above and spinning before kicking him down at the ground like a soccer ball.

Hop was stunned as his Wooloo crashed into the ground at his foot, already unconscious.

"B-Baaa...." It faintly moaned.

"W-Wooloo!? Already!?!"

Hop returned Wooloo and stared ahead at Victor and Ace. He saw the look in both their eyes, looks of experience, looks of power, looks that gave off a sense of pressure that showed them that this wasn't anything new to them. Midori and Twilight had the same menacing looks as Victor and Ace, giving off as much pressure as the front rabbit pokemon currently was.

_"They... They got strong that fast?"_ Hop gulped.

Hop looked more serious as he pulled out another pokeball, "Sky, I'll be relying on you." 

Hop tossed his Pokeball as his evolved Rookidee came out and flew in the air, revealing to have become a Corviquire like Twilight has become.

"Cor! Cor!"

Hop pointed ahead, "Get close and use Pluck!"

"Cor!" Sky dived straight down towards Ace, who just narrowed his eyes at the flying pokemon coming recklessly straight at him.

"Ace, you know what to do." Victor said calmly. 

They had seen this scenario several times against the flying pokemon from the Rainbow Rocket Grunts they faced, they remembered the pattern of pokemon diving in just one path towards their target, so of course... Ace knew what to do.

Ace nodded before he burst into flames using Flame Charge, then actually blasting into the air at quick speeds right up at the Corvisquire flying straight down.

_"He went straight for him!?"_ Hop didn't expect.

"Sky, do-!"

Hop didn't finish as Ace had already used his elbow to ram into Sky's stomach, the bird being caught off guard by the speed. But Ace didn't let him get launched and rather, kept a tight hold on Sky as he flipped the two of them so Ace was on top. He then let go of Sky before the rabbit kicked him straight down to the ground.

_"What kind of synchronization does he have with his pokemon!?!"_

Sky crashed into the ground with a bounce, but didn't spring too high before Ace came falling down with his feet landing on him to nail him down.

Hop didn't know what just happened. Just one of Victor's pokemon had already taken down two of his. During his first battle with him and Gloria, they seemed nearly equal, but now, it was as if Victor had skyrocketed passed him.

Victor noticed his own strength too, avoiding his friend's gaze as he thought about just how much of a gap there already was between them.

_"In addition to the training I've have my pokemon do in the Wild Area, fighting against all those Grunts really put us through a lot... It's no wonder that this is the result..."_

Hop took a deep breath, then grinning despite the situation.

"So it's like that then...? Well, I'm not done yet! This is no problem at all!"

He pulled out his last pokemon, "Go, Conga!"

Out came an evolved Grookey, having turned into Thwackey as you could tell by the two bigger sticks and its longer body.

"Thwackey! Thwack!" The grass type starter cried out.

"Conga, use Razor Leaf!"

"Thwackey!" Conga's dark green bands around his wrists started glowing, to which he swiped his arms down and sent a barrage of sharp leaves heading towards Ace.

"Dodge and get close with Quick Attack!" Victor shouted.

Ace glowed a white aura as he used Quick Attack to dash forward as a white blur, maneuvering around the leaves and getting closer to Conga.

"Use Double Kick!" Victor then shouted.

"Block it with Double Hit!" Hop managed to react.

"Raboot!" Ace shouted.

"Thwakey!" Conga returned.

Conga swung a stick overhead as Ace jumped and swung his leg, both attacks colliding and bouncing off each other. Upon landing, Ace jumped forward again and spun in the air before swinging his other leg, to which Conga also blocked by swinging his other stick.

_"Oh? His Conga seems to be stronger than the others, don't tell me that Hop's been bringing him out the most?"_

Ace and Conga jumped away to make space between the two, where Hop instructed his pokemon once again.

"Conga, use Screech!"

Conga took a deep breath before letting loose, "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"

His ear-piercing shriek had Ace cover his ears in pain, feeling his defense lowering.

"Now go charge forward and use Double Hit again!"

Conga dashed towards Ace with his grip tightened on both of his sticks.

"Use Quick Attack to circle around him!" Victor shouted louder to make sure Ace heard him despite the scream having hurt his ears.

Ace was surrounded in white as he dashed forward as a blur, then passing Conga and running around him in a circle.

"Thwack!? Thwack!?" Conga stopped, his head glancing in all directions to try keeping up with where Ace was.

"Conga, um..." Hop didn't know how to handle that.

"Flame Charge!"

The circle around Conga suddenly blazed in flames, startling the pokemon as he felt the heat.

At one point, Conga was rammed right into his back, taking a direct Flame Charge from Ace that sent him flying back to Hop.

"Thwack!!" Conga fell to the ground, completely knocked out.

"No way..." Hop mumbled, staring down at his starter given by Leon.

Ace skid to a stop and the flames dispersed around him, then standing up straight and putting his paws into his pouch pocket.

"Raboot... Raboot..."

"Good job, Ace." Victor walked over to him and patted him on the head, even though the rabbit tried avoiding it.

Hop returned his last pokemon into his pokeball, staring down at the white and red sphere in his hands with a blank look.

"How...?"

"..." Victor turned to his pokemon, with Midori looking surprised while Twilight looked disappointed as neither expected only Ace to be needed in this... massacre.

He returned all of his pokemon into their pokeballs, then turning back to Hop with a rather sympathetic look as his friend tighten his grip on his pokeball with a confused look.

Hop glanced up at Victor. "We both got ourselves the same Grass Badge, and I even got the Water Badge, so how come you're so much stronger?"

Victor sighed, losing the cheerfulness he usually had as he knew that he had to be honest.

"Sorry... I know that we're only around the beginning of the challenge, but I've just been training." He answered.

"You mean... grinding in the Wild Area?"

Victor nodded. "Something like that. I've actually been fighting a lot of wild pokemon and people." He, of course, left out that those people were part of an evil organization.

Hop just looked even more confused. "So... Training? That's the answer? I thought I was training enough... Fighting every pokemon I came across on the way to the gyms... And yet, you team wiped me with just one pokemon."

Victor saw how discouraged Hop looked, but he shook his head.

"You may have fought a lot of pokemon on your way to the gyms, but from our 'battle' just now, it's clear that you've only been facing pokemon already weaker than your own. No matter how many pokemon you've faced, they won't help you get stronger fast as facing a more powerful pokemon would do."

"So..." Hop lowered his head. "We're still just weak then?"

"No, I'm just pretty strong." Victor honestly answered as he awkwardly scratched the back of his head while averting his eyes from Hop. "Or... I think so at least."

He sighed again and looked down.

"That's why I said that we should be going off on our own... If you and Gloria just spend time waiting for me to arrive rather than going to other places and facing stronger pokemon, then you're just hindering yourselves."

Hop stared down into his pokeball again, eyes hidden as he remained silent for a few seconds.

Victor tilted his head rather worried. "Er-"

"Then it seems I've got to train even harder from now on!!" Hop bounced back to his feet as his head revealed a brightening expression of determination with sparkles all around him.

"Eh?"

"Kabu of Motostoke Stadium is said to be a roadblock for over half the trainers that take the Gym Challenge! If I can't even give you a challenge, then there's no way I'll beat him!" Hop declared with a grin.

He tightly held a fist up to his chest.

"So right now I'm heading straight to the Wild Area! I'll get so strong that I can beat Kabu and even you!"

Victor was going to ask Hop if he was _really_ okay, but the brightness of his friend was already enough to convince him that he was probably fine.

In fact, he even decided to help him. "Great! Let me give you something then!" He smiled as he dug through his backpack for a few seconds, then taking out a container of cookies.

"OOOO! I love the way you make these!" Hop gleamed excitedly.

" _Don't_ eat them all!" Victor warned him. "Give these to that Onix we first encountered in the Rolling Fields and tell him that you're my friend. He should believe you since he should've seen you with us. Have your pokemon train with him!"

"Eh?" Hop blinked in confusion as he took the container of sweets. "Wait, the same Onix that tried to kill us!? You actually made friends with it!?!" He then realized another thing. "And was he one of the 'stronger' pokemon you used to train!?!"

"You betcha! If you want to get along with him, be sure to praise him and show respect!" Victor advised.

_"Wow, to befriend such dangerous pokemon... Victor really is amazing..."_

Hop glanced down at the container of cookies.

_"I wonder if that's something that helped him get stronger?"_

Hop happily grinned, looking back up at his childhood friend. "Thanks Victor! I'll be sure to get stronger by the time you get back to Motostoke! Good luck on your gym battle against Nessa and say hi to Gloria for me!!"

The boy then turned around and dashed back along Route 5 to make his way back to Hulbury, pulling out his phone to call a Flying Taxi to pick him up at the pokemon center in the seaport town.

Victor remained still for a few minutes after Hop left, then reaching his hand up and removing the gray beanie off his head. He held it in his hands and stared down at it, remembering when Hop decided to let him keep it despite having been a gift from Leon.

"Hope you get stronger, Hop... I'll be really shocked if you don't make it with me to the league..."

He then placed his beanie back on and proceeded onward once again, watching the sun already starting to go down and create shadows all over the landscape.

"I might fight Nessa tomorrow. I think we've battled way too much for a day..."

* * *

**~{Meanwhile- Hulbury Stadium}~**

"So... Who's going to be your third pokemon?" The water type Gym Leader, Nessa, asked Gloria from afar. In front of her was her strongest pokemon, Drednaw, a large pokemon resembling a blue and yellow turtle with a brown shell and a hostile look on its face.

"I..." Gloria had no pokemon in front of her. She had just returned her Yamper, Bolt, back into his pokeball after he had been knocked out by the Drednaw just ahead of the girl.

Gloria reached behind her and thought about her options. She had first used Ziggy, who had recently evolved into a Galarian Linoone, then she had used Bolt, expecting the electric type to take care of the rest of the battles for her, only for Nessa's Drednaw to have unexpectedly taken him down. Now all she could use left was one more pokemon according to the water gym's rules, leaving her to choose either Plush, Bubbles, or Luna.

Bubbles is a water type and would be on neutral ground theoretically, but from what Gloria knows, Bubbles wouldn't match up well with her current moves against an evolved pokemon, so that left Plush or Luna. Gloria knew that Luna was afraid, so she didn't want to forcefully bring her out.

_"So all that's left is..."_ Gloria took a deep breath as she reached back and grabbed a pokeball. _"I guess Plush will have to handle this..."_

She got ready to throw her pokeball, "Go Plu-!"

She was interrupted as one of her pokemon forcefully came out of another pokeball right in front of her.

"EH!?"

Gloria glanced down as shiny sparkles came from Luna standing right in front of her, the psychic-fairy trembling as she saw the dangerous Drednaw ahead, yet keeping her eyes on it.

"Oh? And alternate colored Ralts?" Nessa said, looking rather surprised to see such a rare pokemon. "So that's the third pokemon you're choosing?"

"U-Um-! I-I mean-!?" Gloria was just confused as she stared down at Luna.

_"Did... Did she really come out to fight!?"_

Nessa grinned across from her, "Your pokemon is beautiful, but I'm afraid it won't save you. You have your back against the door."

"Oi! You're on ya last pokemon too!" Gloria snapped back.

"That I am, Gloria." Nessa giggled. "But I'm not planning to lose right here. I've already lost to Leon's little brother right before you came, I can't lose again so fast."

She then returned her Drednaw into its pokeball, which grew larger with colors sparkling around. 

"Prepare to face the might of the waves! Go Gigantamax!"

She then heaved the large ball forward and released her pokemon, watching it grow to ginormous size.

But it didn't just grow, it had even changed in appearance, as it was now standing on just its two hind legs and looked even more armored as if becoming as tough as a tank. 

**"Drednaaaaaaaaaaw!!"** Its cry echoed in the blue stadium.

Its large, angry pink eyes glared down at the tiny Ralts underneath, making Luna shake in fear of the frightening monster. She saw the Liepards from before, she saw their dangerous look, their hostility, it was the same kind of pressure that this Drednaw gave off.

Gloria noticed this look from her pokemon, making her worry that although she bravely came out herself, the fear and pressure might be too much for her small pokemon.

"Don't worry Luna, I know you can do it! That's why you came out, right!? Because _you_ know _you_ can do this!?"

Luna glanced back, watching her trainer pull out the pokeball she had just escaped from herself.

"I know you're scared, but you have the power to win! I'll show you that you do!" Gloria reassured her, smiling to add to show that she was confident in her.

Her Dynamax Band sparkled in pink colors with her pokeball also sparkling with pink.

Luna stopped shaking and saw the pink colors coming from Gloria's Dynamax band. She glanced back at the giant Gigantamax Drednaw that was roaring into the sky, understanding immediately what Gloria had in mind.

So she nodded in agreement.

Gloria's eyes brightened, "Then, let's do this!!" 

Gloria returned Luna into her pokeball before it increased in size in her hands. With one mighty throw, Gloria sent her large pokeball spinning in the air before it opened up, sending out a Ralts nearly as gigantic as the Dredmaw she was facing.

Luna landed on the ground with a slam, then taking a deep breath before crying out, **"Raaaaaaaaalts!!!"**

Luna emitted a shiny sparkle as she let out a roar, entrancing the audience to appreciate an alternate colored pokemon's appearance in such a large form.

Nessa confidently grinned, "Don't think that just Dynamaxing alone will give you the power to win! Drednaw, show them the power of our waves with Max Geyser!!"

The Drednaw stomped its feet and opened its mouth, where he fired a giant, violent stream of water at Luna.

**"DREDNAAAAAAAAAAAAWW!!!!"**

"Luna! Show them how strong you really are! Return the attack with Max Mindstorm!!"

Luna started glowing pink in psychic energy, as she took a deep breath...

And let loose.

**"RAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!"**

Giant rings of psychic energy repeatedly echoed at the large stream of water incoming.

The repeated rings of psychic energy collided with the geyser, causing water to splash in all directions as both pokemon were suddenly kept at a standstill. Luna's psychic power was keeping Drednaws water from coming right at her, but it wasn't long before she was suddenly starting to get overwhelmed.

Luna looked stressed as the Max Geyser was getting close to breaking through her Max Mindstorm. She struggled to keep in place, she struggled to keep up her power, she struggled to just stand right there.

However, while standing with such power and willpower to stay up...

She no longer felt afraid.

"You can do it, Luna! Don't stop! Prove to everyone just what it means to be strong!!" Gloria shouted, hoping to give her one last push.

Hearing her, Luna's head started glowing blue. But not just her head, her entire body suddenly started glowing blue and the psychic rings of the Max Mindstorm suddenly started getting stronger.

Nessa's eyes widened, "Wh-What, it's... it's-!?"

Luna started changing shape. Growing taller, legs extended, additional features growing on her head.

**"RAAAAAA-KIRLIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"**

Her psychic energy exploded, the psychic rings growing larger and suddenly penetrating through the giant stream of water right to Drednaw.

The bite pokemon's eyes enlarged before the psychic barrage connected, resulting in a massive explosion that created intense winds throughout the arena.

When the winds died down, everyone looked shocked to see two things. One, the previous Dynamaxed Ralts had now become a Dynamaxed Kirlia, and two, Nessa's Drednaw had shrunken down and was now on his side, completely unconscious.

Gloria was stunned.

"Y-Y-You evolved while Dynamaxed!?!"

The giant Kirlia turned back to her trainer, a satisfied expression shown in her finally visible eyes.

Then she gave her trainer a close eyed smile.

**"Kirlia!"**

The giant pokemon suddenly shrunk back down to normal size and fell on her back, panting while keeping her happy expression.

Gloria dived forward with happy tears in her eyes, picking up her pokemon and hugging her tightly.

"Lunaaaa!!! You did it!"

"Kirlia! Kirlia!" Luna cheered, no longer fazed by contact with her trainer.

The announcer that had gotten stunned by the spectacle finally regained his composure and spoke.

**"I-It's over! Nessa has no pokemon left standing! So the challenger, Gloria of Postwick, wins!!!"**

The crowd went ballistic.

"An evolution in the middle of a Dynamax form!? Well, ain't that something!" A man laughed.

"And she managed to overpower right through Nessa's Max Geyser!? What incredible power!" Another commented.

Nessa just stood in place with a frozen expression, the Gym Leader's eyes glued to her Drednaw on the floor.

_"No way... I..."_

She recalled losing to Hop in literally her previous battle, remembered the same frustrating sight of her Drednaw on the floor.

_"Not... again..."_

** "Unbelievable! Another devastating loss for Nessa!! Her record is diminishing from a streak of defeats! Has our beloved Gym Leader lost her touch!?!" **

Nessa returned her Drednaw back into her pokeball, lowering her head to hide her eyes as she absorbed the realization. She hadn't just lost this battle, but she had been losing more battles in such a short period of time. She remembered facing Piers' little sister, remembered fighting a platinum-haired boy, remembered fighting Leon's little brother, and now... She had lost once more, all in a row.

As she recalled all these losses for just the beginning of the gym challenge, the sounds of the crowd seemed to die around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew... So a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, but I feel like I did okay. Sure, Twilight and Luna evolving in the same chapter may seem rushed but hey, each evolution for a pokemon isn't just gonna have a long series of moments setting up for it. Anyway, next time on small boy that talks to pokemon, what's this? An issue in Galar? Eh? Doubts in our favorite model? Huh!? A new pokemon for our dear friend!? Who will it be!? That and more in the best pokemon fic ever! (Probably not, but it makes me feel better thinking like that, lol) Anyway, until next chapter! Ya-hoo! (Mario jumps out of existence)


	12. Arrival In The Seaport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A Mimikyu jumps out of a green pipe) Ya-hoo! It's me! Ya-boy, author-sama! Back at it again with another new chapter of art. In this episode of pokemon, a problem with Galar? A problem with our best model? A new pokemo- Wait, I'm getting deja vu. Oh well, time to see for ourselves how our precious boy continues in his adventure to become the champion he wants to be! (Jumps into a standard Mario Kart) See ya afterword! VROOM VROOM! (Speeds off)

** ~{Hulbury- 6:23PM}~ **

The ocean water reflected orange from the sun as it started to go down. Victor came out of a tunnel under a bridge and into the bustling seaport town that was Hulbury. The first thing he saw was a pokemon center and a seafood restaurant up ahead under the light of the evening sky.

He felt tired for the day, having been fighting so many Rainbow Rocket Grunts, helping many pokemon earlier, and then even fighting Hop. He knew that Gloria was already in Hulbury still since Hop said that she should be starting her gym battle right now, so he decided to send her a text to meet him somewhere nearby after she finished.

Victor was pulling out his phone to do just that when he caught sight of a group of people standing around talking excitingly to someone.

_ "Wait a second, is that...?" _ Victor recognized Chairman Rose within the group, the man happily signing autographs with his calm smile while his secretary Oleana stood beside him looking rather annoyed.

He slowly approached the group, listening in as he heard many people asking for Rose's autograph.

_ "He sure is popular." _

Chairman Rose chuckled as he signed a few more things before Oleana stepped between him and the group of town people.

_ "Oh, if I remember correctly..."  _ Victor thought as he recognized the tall, slender woman wearing a lab coat and red blouse.  _ "That's his secretary, right?" _

Oleana raised her hand to halt the crowd around her and her boss.

"Our sincerest apologies. The chairman is quite busy at the moment and we have to be on our way, so please disperse." She demanded rather calmly.

"Ehhhh? Aw, just a little longer." One of the females of the crowd said.

"Please, leave, now." Oleana said with a more menacing glare than before.

"O-Okay then... See you later chairman!" The same female in the crowd nervously waved. 

Everyone else nervously followed suit and rushed away.

"Oh come now, I can still do a few more autographs! Maybe I could even give out a few league cards!" Chairman Rose tried to call to them.

"No, you can't. We're here for business." Oleana sighed.

"But chasing them off like that... Aren't you being too harsh Oleana? We need to support our fans." Rose answered as he adjusted his tie.

"You can support your fans by  _ actually _ doing your work."

Rose awkwardly laughed, "Er, what were we working on again?"

Oleana facepalmed, "We just came to check the progress of Hulbury and to see if the power spot has changed at all in energy level."

Rose put a finger up as he remembered, "Ah yes, we must ensure nothing has changed at all in any town of our beloved region! It would be devastating if any of them ran out of Dynamax energy such as-"

He was interrupted as a proud voice spoke. "I'll do everything in my power to assist you too, chairman!"

Victor's eyes widened as he saw Bede approach the chairman, making him instinctively hide behind the pokemon center to listen out of curiosity.

Chairman Rose turned to Bede with a confused look.

"Oh? And you were...?"

The platinum-haired boy flinched, "Er... Bede sir."

Rose's eyes instantly lit up in realization, his warm smile returning.

"Oh, Bede! It's been so long since I've last seen you several years ago! I hardly recognized you by how much you've grown." He smiled.

"Bede?" Oleana questioned. "The boy from the orphanage?"

_ "Orphanage?" _ Victor repeated in surprise.

"Yes, years ago I gave him my Hatenna because I saw potential in him. Then recently, before the Gym Challenge started, I had one of my staff check in on him with a pokeball battle."

He put his hands on his hips with a proud smile as he gazed at the noble stance of the boy.

"And based on how you're standing here in Hulbury, I'm assuming you passed your test just fine."

Bede smugly grinned, "Of course I did chairman! I was honored to find out that you had decided to endorse me! Receiving that letter from your staff was one of the happiest moments of my life!"

"Oho, good to know! Will you be the one to beat the Gym Challenge and become the champion that you dreamed to be? Or perhaps it'll be one of those trainers endorsed by the champion?" Rose grinned.

Bede didn't hesitate to get serious and answer.

"I will prove your faith in me is well placed, chairman! I won't lose to anyone!"

_ "But didn't he lose to me already?" _ Victor sweatdropped.

"I look forward to it, but tell me, Bede..." Chairman Rose still maintained his calm smile, yet there was a depth of seriousness behind it. "How have you been doing on that 'other' issue I've tasked you? It should've been in the letter."

Bede looked confident, "I've been collecting Wishing Stars as you wished. I'm certain that I've obtained all the ones in the Galar Mines and will continue to search for them on my journey."

Rose nodded approvingly, "Good. They're vital to ensuring the prosperity of Galar. I'll continue relying on you for this."

Bede put a hand proudly on his chest, "Thank you chairman! I'll make sure to live up to your expectations! Now if you'll excuse me, I must be on my way to find somewhere to sleep for the night."

He bowed politely before walking off.

That was when Victor came out of his hiding place and approached the Chairman, his curiosity peaking by everything he's heard.

However, before he could get too close to Rose, Oleana suddenly stepped in Victor's way with a small glare as if to try and scare him off. "Sorry, but the chairman is not giving out any more autographs."

"Hm?" Chairman Rose turned to Victor and recognized him, "Oh! It's alright Oleana, this one is one of the three endorsed by Leon. Victor, correct?"

Victor nodded, not looking fazed at all by Oleana's glare.

"Yes sir, that's me. So you really did endorse Bede after all?"

"Oh? Could it be that you've met him already?" Rose questioned as he rubbed his beard.

"Yup, before the opening ceremony I talked to him in the lobby. He didn't give me the best first impression. Then I ran into him again in the Galar Mines where I found him collecting Wishing Stars. You tasked him with that?"

"Indeed I did, Victor." Rose nodded.

Victor tilted his head looking rather puzzled. "But... Why? What's so important about them?"

"Sorry, but we don't have time for-"

Rose raised a hand, shushing her. "It's quite alright, Oleana, he may be able to help us." He then put both hands behind his back as he turned and began marching down the street. "Walk with me, Victor."

The boy listened and quickened his walking pace to be beside Rose, curiosity filling him as he waited for the chairman to speak.

"Victor... Do you know what the Galar Region is run on?"

"Dynamax Energy, right?"

Rose nodded, "Correct. Dynamax energy is what fuels the entirety of Galar. From the lights we turn on in our homes, to our pokemon centers, and especially to the power spots that provide pokemon the opportunity to Dynamax... Now, have you heard of the Darkest Day?"

Victor nodded. "I have."

"Then you should know that ever since that day thousands of years ago, Galar has been getting supplied with this energy and has been relying on it ever since."

A question mark appeared over Victor, "But what does that have to do with Wishing Stars? I know they contain Dynamax Energy, but we don't need them to power Galar, right?"

Rose turned to Victor, his smile not matching how serious his eyes were.

"It seemed that way. But I've learned that the energy supply we have right now is limited."

Both were suddenly silent as they walked by a few homes, taking glances at all the innocent people enjoying the world they had now thanks to Dynamax Energy.

"..." Victor gave a more intense stare at Rose. "How long?"

"From now, we supposedly have about 1,000 years until this energy crisis occurs."

The seriousness on Victor's face turned into a smile, "Then what are you so worried about? We have plenty of time before that happens. I'm sure that at one point someone will find a solution to it."

Rose lowered his head and chuckled. "Yes... I did believe that too..."

Victor stopped, an eyebrow raised, "You, 'did' believe it?"

The chairman stopped walking too, turning to him.

"Victor, do you know about the town of Spikemuth?"

"Yeah, it's the only town in Galar not built on a Dynamax power spot, right?"

Rose shook his head in disagreement, "That's where people get their facts wrong... Spikemuth was indeed built right on a power spot..."

"Huh?" Victor blinked.

Rose sighed, "It used to be a prosperous and bright town full of all sorts of folks, filled to the brim with Dynamax energy in every corner. It was the brightest and the loudest place in Galar, popular for its music and partying. There were plans to build a stadium there, but then... One day, nearly all of their Dynamax energy disappeared. Their power spot weakened, their lights and electronics died from losing their power, and the town went into chaos."

"Wait, how do you know this? When did this happen!?" Victor asked in disbelief.

"We have records of the crisis." Oleana chipped in. "This was not too long ago, only about 64 years ago to be exact."

Rose brushed through his hair. "After Spikemuth lost its main source of power, it began falling to ruin. The streets became deserted, buildings broke down over time, the lights barely stay lit, and nearly everyone who lived there at the time all moved out. Gym battles are now held in an old blacktop court and to everyone, it's clear that Spikemuth is nowhere near as prosperous as the other power rich cities of the region. The only ones remaining in that town are those with passion for what their home was before, a place for partying and music. Nearly all of those people are those known as 'Team Yell,' the rowdy bunch of troublemakers that everyone despises..."

"64 years ago...?" Victor repeated in a mumble.  _ "So that's why I had no idea of this happening... I wasn't here or even born to hear anything about it when it happened..." _

He then formed another realization.

_ "Team Yell lives there and Rose mentioned that the Gym Leader in Spikemuth, Piers, endorsed Marnie... Does that mean Marnie lived there for her entire life?" _

Victor looked stunned.

_ "I think I'll call her about it later..." _

Rose got Victor's attention again. "As time progressed, the new generations of people such as yourself misunderstood Spikemuth's situation... It wasn't that Spikemuth was foolishly built on a place without a power spot, but rather, was built on a place that suddenly  _ lost _ its power spot..." 

He sighed. "But perhaps... it's better this way."

"But why!? Why not tell the public the truth about Spikemuth!? And how come there wasn't any info like what you've said when I looked it up the place!?" Victor asked him, not liking the idea of superiors hiding such secrets from the people.

"There isn't any official info of this for the public because the previous generations of higher-ups and myself have made sure there wasn't any for them. But the reason we're doing this is that if we did inform the public on this, then it would cause unnecessary panic all throughout Galar. If the people learn that their homes may end up losing their main source of power, no doubt fear or maybe even chaos would ensue..."

"So... Why tell  _ me _ this then? Aren't you worried I might tell someone?"

Rose just chuckled, "I'm not worried that you'd do that. One reason I'm telling you this is that Leon told me that you're very considerate and love to help others, so I think you can help us. And two, even if you were to go around telling people, I doubt they'll believe you because of the idea everyone has about Team Yell..."

"What idea?"

"Well... People believe that everyone from Spikemuth is dangerous, and this is because of rumors that have been spreading for quite a while now. One such rumor is that Spikemuth  _ did _ have a Power Spot, but Team Yell themselves 'destroyed' it, as if to proclaim a sort of hatred for Dynamaxing. Another rumor goes along with this idea of hatred, where Team Yell purposely built or moved to Spikemuth because there was no Dynamax energy. Their actions of messing with Gym Challengers don't help to ease any of these rumors... Spikemuth's Gym Leader, Pier's, is painted in a bad light because of this, and now everyone thinks he's like a criminal leader."

_ "So... Anyone from Spikemuth is antagonized because of this?" _ Victor thought, thinking about Marnie rather worriedly.

"Chairman, I believe you're getting off track. You were just supposed to tell him about the Wishing Stars." Oleana told him.

"Oh, how you're right! I do apologize." He focused back on Victor. "But the point is, Spikemuth wasn't supposed to lose its energy for another _ 1,000 _ years. And yet, it suddenly lost power and became the wasteland it is today. So who's not to say that the same thing can happen to the rest of Galar? To lose their main source of power and send the region crashing down... I'm afraid of such an event suddenly happening, and I'm worried about it happening any time."

"And... these Wishing Stars are a key to help this?" Victor deduced.

Rose nodded. "As you've mentioned, Wishing Stars contain heaps of Dynamax Energy in them. So I wish to collect them so that I can keep supplying energy to every part of Galar possible. With the help of the Hammerlocke Energy Plant, Wishing Star power can be harnessed into electricity just as well as the raw energy from power spots."

Victor's eyes lit up, "Wait, but if Dynamax energy is just converted into normal electricity in the first place, then why don't we just get normal electricity from pokemon? Or build a power plant?"

Rose shook his head in rejection, "If only it were that simple... Electricity from pokemon and electricity from power plants is different than Dynamax energy converting into poweer. A pokemon's electricity can indeed be used as a source of power, but it's much more destructive than normal electricity. It makes our equipment grow to an incredible risk of going haywire or just outright exploding. And as for building a powerplant, we have records of one being built before, but it had exploded and collapsed because Dynamax energy seemed to have some sort of destructive reaction with both pokemon electricity and normal electricity being produced."

Victor looked worried. "So... Collecting Wishing Stars is the only alternative means of getting energy besides power spots?"

"Yes, Victor, that's why we're collecting them. However... Because of how busy my staff and I are, I can't go out and find Wishing Stars myself. So I've tasked Bede with collecting them for me. It's refreshing to see what a nice and humble young boy he's become."

_ "I think he only acts that way around you..." _ Victor sweatdropped.

But Victor was reminded of the main reason he wanted to talk to Rose in the first place.

"A-Ah! Speaking of Bede! I wanted to ask you about him!"

"I'm sorry, but that's enough. I was being considerate and letting the Chairman share his troubles so you could possibly help us, but now we really must be leaving." Oleana told Victor.

Rose turned to her, "Oh come now Oleana, I'm sure it can wait-"

" _ Now." _ The women insisted with a dark aura.

"Er... Right. Ah, how about this then?" Rose turned to Victor. "You're going to face Gym Leader Nessa soon, yes? If you get a gym badge from her, I'll hold a small celebration! I'd like to get to know you a little better, after all!"

Oleana was suddenly dragging the Rose away, "The chairman and I will still be in this town for the next few days, so once receiving the Water Badge, head to this town's seafood restaurant. We'll keep tabs on Hulbury Stadium to see when you battle Nessa, so once you finish, head over to the restaurant and we'll be sure to meet you. But for now, I suggest finding a place to sleep."

"Alright..." Victor muttered, feeling bad after learning about Galar's problem and also disappointed that he didn't get to learn more about Bede.

But he replaced these negative emotions with a determined resolve.

"I'll start finding Wishing Stars too! If it's to help Galar, then I'll do what I can!"

"That would be very much appreciated! Please do your best for Galar's future!" Rose waved as he was dragged off.

Victor smiled as Rose and his secretary disappeared from his sight, leaving him alone as he saw the sun starting nearly touching the horizon in the ocean.

_ "I guess I should find a place to sleep... If I remember correctly, this place doesn't have any inns. That's kind of annoying... Actually, I wonder if that's on purpose to toughen us trainers taking the Gym Challenge?" _

Victor shrugged and pulled out his Rotom phone, "Gloria should be done with the water gym challenge by now. I wonder how was it for her?"

He sent a quick text to her.

Victor: _ Hey Gloria! How are you doing? Are you still in Hulbury? If you are, then meet up with me so that I could wish you good luck before you continue on. I'll be setting camp somewhere in Hulbury, just look for an obvious red tent somewhere around the pokemon center. _

He put his phone in his pocket and tossed out his pokeballs.

Ace, Twilight, and Midori all came out in a line right in front of him.

"Alright guys. I wanna find a spot to camp out for the night near the pokemon center. Got any preferences?"

Twilight immediately flew upwards in the sky to look around, Midori glanced around at the area, and Ace just kept his paws in his pouch not bothering to look.

It didn't take long for Twilight to come back and hover in front of Victor.

"Cor! Cor!" His trusty Corvisquire cawed.

"Oh? Down those stairs?" Victor asked, pointing at some stairs to the right.

Twilight nodded, then flying over to the area.

"Alrighty! Come on you two!" Victor motioned to Midori and Ace.

Both pokemon followed close behind down the stairs, where Victor came upon a picnic area of the sort with a dirt ground, two picnic tables, and four different colored stands that sold various things. But they didn't stop there as Twilight flew over the short fence near the area and landed in a flat, grassy area with a few bushes and flowers growing.

Victor followed and jumped over the fence, smiling as he looked around at the area.

"Yeah! This should be good! I don't think we'll be bothering anyone by camping out here, so let's set it up!"

He took off his large backpack and got to work taking out his camping set with the help of his pokemon.

At the same time, someone excitingly ran along the streets of Hulbury searching for him.

Gloria glanced in all directions as Luna poked out of the Girl's backpack with a smile.

"Victor said that he should be near the pokemon center! I can't wait to show him how much you've grown in such a short time Luna!" The girl squealed.

Luna nodded excitingly behind her, no longer looking as timid or nervous as before. Ever since evolving such a short time ago, she became prouder and more confident than ever. It was almost as if she was a different pokemon, no doubt taking inspiration from her trainer. But despite this, she still preferred the comfort of being carried in her trainer's backpack.

Gloria arrived at the pokemon center and continued looking around.

"Hm, he should be around here somewhere."

It didn't take her long to walk to the stairs and catch sight of an obvious red tent just finishing being to get set up.

Her eyes lit up with a big smile.

"Victor!!" She hurried down the stairs.

Victor just finished hammering down one of the stakes when he heard his friend, turning around to see her hopping over the short fence and landing on the grassy area he was at.

"Oh, I didn't expect to see you so soon!" He smiled as his pokemon gathered around. "How did your battle with Nessa go?"

"It was great!" Gloria jumped. "She was stronger than I thought, but Luna came through in the end!"

Victor looked surprised. "Huh? You managed to get Luna to fight already?"

"Not just that! Look!" Gloria took off her backpack and placed it onto the ground, where Luna jumped out and presented herself in all her evolved Kirlia glory.

"She even evolved?" Victor smiled.

Before then forming a deadpanned expression.

"Wait, after just one battle!?!"

"I know, right!?" Gloria laughed.

Victor curiously stared down at how proud, and even tough Luna seemed to be acting, making him wonder something as he reached down and pat her.

"Well, Ralts are known as the 'feeling' pokemon who use their horns to detect the emotions of their trainers, but they're also influenced by these emotions, especially positive ones. So maybe a really intense moment was enough to get her to evolve?"

Gloria laughed. "Yeah! She was my last pokemon against Nessa! One versus one, pokemon versus pokemon! And I cheered for her like our lives depended on it!"

_ "Then why hasn't Midori evolved with me?" _ Victor comedically cried.

Luna approached Midori and glanced down at him, the male Ralts staring up her without any movement. She put her hands on her hips while puffing out her chest proudly as if presenting herself to her counterpart.

"..."

Midori stared at Luna's evolved form, then glanced down at his current form's hands.

"..."

The next thing the group knew, Midori was sulking right beside the tent with a small spotlight shining on him, even tracing circles on the ground.

Luna suddenly became flustered to see him look so depressed, rushing over to him. "K-Kirlia! Kirl! Kirl!"

The rest of the group sweatdropped.

"Ah, poor Midori. I guess seeing Luna already evolve is making him feel left out..." Victor awkwardly chuckled.

Gloria saw Victor's two other evolved pokemon Ace and Twilight, an angsty looking Raboot and the proud-looking Corvisquire.

"Aw, he shouldn't feel bad. He'll evolve soon, especially since he's with ya." Gloria reassured as she glanced at Luna kneeling over and gently patting Midori on his back to comfort him.

"I think so too. It shouldn't be too long... But I wonder if my battles with him haven't been intense enough? Or haven't had enough 'emotion' in them?" Victor brainstormed.

"Aren't ya going to fight against Nessa today? Maybe you could do something there?" Gloria asked as she sat down beside her friend in a cross-legged position.

"Nah. I'm gonna take on the water gym tomorrow... My pokemon and I have been through enough for today." Victor yawned.

"Eh? Really? I guess ya did fight Milo just earlier."

"No, we're not tired just because of that. We fought  _ and _ helped a lot of wild pokemon." Victor said, deciding to leave out fighting against team Rainbow Rocket.

"Eh? Ya were helping out more pokemon on the way to Hulbury like ya did before arriving at Turffield? Victor, ain't that making ya-self too busy and tired out? Shouldn't ya be focusing on the Gym Challenge rather than every pokemon ya come across?"

Victor suddenly shot up to his feet, "Of course not! If I know that I'm able to help someone out but decide not to, then I'd be no better than any bystanders watching someone getting bullied!" He declared with comedic flames in his eyes.

Gloria sighed, "That's just like ya Victor..."

"Do you hate that about me?" Victor asked, glancing back at the girl.

"Of course not. It's something I admire that about ya." Gloria smiled.

"That's good to hear."

He sat back down and gazed up at the darkening sky.

"Hey, it's turning dark, are you planning to stay in Hulbury tonight?"

"Hm? Ah, I didn't think about that." Gloria realized as she saw the sky's orange colors slowly but surely darkening. "I could just pitch a tent right beside ya."

Victor smiled. "Sound good. Should I set things up for dinner? I got a lot of ingredients."

"Oo! Let me cook! I'll make ya some Herb Medley Curry!" Gloria stood up in excitement.

Victor began comedically crying in bliss at the thought, even bowing down. "Yes! Please my goddess! Bless me with your majestic cuisine!"

Gloria steamed up with a large blush, frantically waving her arms up and down, "D-Don't say it like that! It's embarrassing!!"

Twilight and Ace sweatdropped while Midori just continued to sulk with Luna awkwardly trying to cheer him up.

* * *

** ~{Hulbury Gym Preparation Room}~ **

Nessa sat with her head down in the contestant preparation room of her own gym. She held an empty paper cup in her hands, finished drinking some water to get over her frustration from losing another recent match. This hadn't happened for quite a while during her career, to lose  _ four _ times in a row. Being the second Gym Leader that gym challengers face, Nessa was another one of the main gyms that helped wash away so many trainers from the good ones. Because of this, it was rare for her to ever lose even two matches in a row. 

But now the worst had happened to her, losing first to Pier's little sister, then to a smug-like body (that battle annoyed her), then to Hop, and then finally to Gloria. The announcer's words still echoed in her head despite the young adult trying not to think about them.

**_ "I-It's over! Nessa has no pokemon left standing! So the challenger, Gloria of Postwick, wins!!!" _ **

She shook her head to get these thoughts off.

**_ "Unbelievable! Another devastating loss for Nessa!! Her record is diminishing from a streak of defeats! Has our beloved Gym Leader lost her touch!?!" _ **

She instinctively crushed the paper cup between her hands with a growl.

_ "Damn it..." _ She let out another sigh and tossed the cup onto the floor in frustration.

She suddenly heard someone enter the room.

"Sorry about your match." 

Nessa turned her head and was surprised to see Chairman Rose casually walked in with Oleana. 

"I watched it at the last moment and saw what happened. It was really surprising, to see an evolution in the middle of a Dynamax form, and for an alternate colored pokemon at that." Rose continued.

Nessa tilted her head, "Chairman? What... are you doing here?"

Rose lifted up three different magazines that each had Nessa on the cover. "I saw these and thought to check up on you. It seems that your modeling career is going well." He innocently smiled.

"Um... Thank you." The model responded, unsure of what to make out from what he's saying.

Rose placed the magazines on the bench.

"But working as both a Gym Leader and a model... It must keep you rather busy, doesn't it?"

Nessa narrowed her eyes in a look of suspicion. 

"To constantly move from fighting hundreds of trainers, to keeping composed and posing for hours. It can really frustrate a person."

"What are you getting at?" Nessa questioned before he could go on.

"Oh, hm... Well..." He glanced at the room's large television screen, which was now replaying highlights from many of Leon's battles.

"It's just that... I think you need to think about how high you should be aiming for."

Nessa's eye twitched, "But I-?"

"Right?" Rose leaned closer and smiled with his eyes closed.

Nessa glared at him, wishing to snap something back. The look on Rose's face, she hated it. His scrunched up eyes, his big smile, it stung her. But she found that her mouth had turned dry and unable to respond back to him.

Oleana sighed and stepped beside Rose.

"Nessa, the chairman doesn't wish to offend you in any way. This arrogant look he's giving you actually means he's worried."

"Eh? Arrogant look?" Rose asked as he pointed at himself, his face looking genuinely surprised to hear that.

"Yes, it makes you look wicked." Oleana immediately pointed out.

"Ouch..." Rose awkwardly laughed as he rubbed the back of his head. "Is that so? Then I do apologize for that Nessa, but as my lovely secretary has said, I'm actually worried about you. You're one of Galar's most popular Gym Leaders after all."

Nessa, still looking annoyed, finally able to speak. "But you're still basically telling me to quit one or the other... right?"

"Er, I didn't say that." 

"But you implied it." 

Nessa stood up from her seat, making Rose back up a bit as he saw her glare.

"I don't need you lecturing me, I can handle what I'm doing."

With that claim, she suddenly marched off with her hands tightly clenched into fists.

Oleana narrowed her eyes, "Hold on, you can't disrespect-!"

"Let her go." Rose insisted with a sigh. "I've overstepped my boundaries anyway..."

Oleana turned to him with a glare, "But no one should speak to you, the chairman, in such a disrespectful manner."

"It's alright. Just because I'm the chairman doesn't mean that no one should speak how they truly feel. Besides..." Rose started walking out of the room. "It may be better to leave her on her own."

He then chuckled.

"I'm sure things will work out sooner or later."

They followed through the door Nessa had exited and were in the lobby of the Hulbury Gym, watching the water type Gym Leader already leaving the building.

He then turned to Oleana.

"On another note... Is there any new information on Team Rocket's activities?"

Oleana saw Rose still smiling, but detected the change of tone in him and his eyes.

She flipped a few pages on her clipboard, "There were barely any sightings of them before the Gym Challenge started. But the day after the opening ceremony... their activities increased. Several people have already been victims of them, such as stolen pokemon, robbing items, and even kidnapping civilians. Champion Leon has already called in twice on two large groups of Team Rocket Grunts that he apprehended."

They walked out of the gym as Rose's curiosity peaked. "Oh? Did Leon catch them himself?"

Oleana shook her head, "No, Leon said on both occasions, they were caught by Victor of Postwick. And he also learned that they have changed their name to 'Rainbow Rocket,' but for reasons unknown."

"..." Rose raised an eyebrow. "That boy caught them...? Hm..."

He stopped walking and gazed out at the sight of innocent townspeople happily living on.

"It looks like we'll have to issue an official warning of this 'Rainbow Rocket' to the public. Write a reminder to do that tomorrow morning."

"Yes sir." Oleana quickly flipped to a different page of the clipboard and wrote it down.

_ "So... Victor of Postwick managed to catch them himself? He really must be quite the trainer..." _

He rubbed his mustache.

_ "Hm... Is there more to him than the other two?" _

* * *

** ~{Pokemon Center-7:13 PM}~ **

"Man, I really needed this..." Victor sighed in relief as he sank his body into the bathwater.

Within each Pokemon Center scattered throughout Galar, there were always baths in a few rooms underground exclusively for those taking the Gym Challenge, as the public knew that taking the challenge meant traveling through Galar. Even with the availability of the Flying Taxi service to take challengers wherever they desired, nearly all of them decided to travel by foot in order to help them and their pokemon get stronger. Therefore, pokemon centers installed these baths for them to use. Sadly, there wasn't enough space in the Pokemon Centers to also include any rooms for anyone to sleep for the night. Regardless, the challengers were always grateful to have a place to bathe anytime during their journey.

Midori happily swam around the large tub for small pokemon, while Ace and Twilight remained still at opposite corners of the same tub to let their friend swim around. Victor, on the other hand, sat in his own small tub for trainers.

"Boot, Raboot?" Ace called to Victor.

"Relax Ace, I've known Gloria since we were kids. Of course it's alright for us to leave our camp for her to watch, we did the same for her while she came here before us. Besides, my important things are in my backpack anyway. And it's just outside this room."

The steam from the baths slowly fogged up the bathroom they were in. There were no windows since the room itself was right underneath the pokemon center, so only a bit of ventilation helped keep the room from getting completely fogged up. The group spent several minutes just relaxing in the water, something they needed after all the trouble they went through during the day.

But at one point, a small alarm went off.

*Beep! Beep! Beep!*

On the wall by the sliding glass door, there was an alarm that beeped to show that the group's time was up.

"Eh!? Already!?"

Twilight jumped out of the water and spread his wings, shaking off most of the water on him.

"Cor, Cor." 

"Aw, man... I know we have a time limit so that others can come, but I wish it was just a little longer..." He pouted.

The boy stood up from the tub while also wrapping a towel around his lower half at blazing speeds, making nothing seen. Ace uncaringly pulled himself out of the tub and shook violently to get most of the water of him. Midori looked disappointed, but also moved out of the tub and shook his wet head.

Victor went to the still beeping alarm and pressed a button to stop it.

"Oh well, fun while it lasted."

He slid the fogged up glass door open as the bathwater in the tubs behind him automatically emptied out.

He stepped into the changing room and went to a cupboard, grabbing more towels for him and his pokemon. He first helped to dry off his own pokemon before then starting to dry himself.

"Raboot. Boot."

"Eh? Okay then. I'll be out in a few minutes."

His pokemon nodded and went to the door, with Midori using his telekinesis to first unlock it. Then he cracked the door open just so he and his fellow pokemon could slip out before shutting the door behind them and locking it.

"It was considerate of them to give me privacy, but does it really matter? I mean, we were all in the bath just a moment ago."

Victor finished drying his head and then dried his body, making sure not to have too much water on him when he would put his clothes on.

He placed all the towels he used, besides the one still wrapped around his lower half, into a basket meant for the dirty towels to go in.

"Now to get some clean clothes on."

He reached for his backpack sitting on a chair, but stopped as he noticed something.

"Wait... Did I leave it open?"

It then shook.

"Eh?"

Victor stared with a blank expression as he saw his backpack visibly twitch and shift in its spot. He was completely frozen as he just watched it constantly move, knowing that there was only one reason why it would move.

_ "There's something inside!?!" _

He carefully kneeled down and placed his ear against his backpack to listen in, hearing the sounds of nibbling and crunching.

_ "Oh god, it's a pokemon. It's gotta be... It must be eating the bag of berries I have inside... WAIT!! IT'S GONNA SPREAD ALL OVER MY BAG THEN!" _

Victor quickly lifted his head and raised the lid of his backpack all the way up, gazing inside to see what had crawled in.

"Charja!"

"GYAH!" 

He suddenly jumped away as he hadn't expected something to poke its head out, the movement resulting in Victor's backpack tumbling onto the floor.

Victor blinked as he saw something slowly wiggle out of his backpack.

A small, cuboid pokemon with three square segments making up its body. He had four brown stubby legs, two blue screen-like eyes, two short yellow spikes under each eye, and a jagged mouth that opened and closed sideways.

"A... A Charjabug!?" Victor turned black and white in shock with a comedic strike of lightning coming out of nowhere.

"Char... Charja..." The battery pokemon didn't even seem to acknowledge Victor's existence as he crawled out, simply chomping on the remains of some berries happily.

Victor stared blankly as the Charajabug fully left his bag and moved on the floor, leaving trails of berry juice as he did. When he was out all the way, Victor rushed to his now pokemon-free backpack and dug through it, feeling his stomach drop as he saw the inside.

"My berries!!" He reached in and pulled out a plastic bag of what used to be full of berries, instead just covered in berry juice. He dug more into the bag and felt devastated.

"My clothes!" He pulled out clothes covered in the same berry juice, the clothes that were supposed to be for him to wear out of the bath.

He glanced down at the Charjabug that let out a small burp, splattering some blue around.

Cross-veins of irritation popped on Victor's head.

"How did you even get in here!?" Victor quickly searched around the room before looking up at a vent that had been knocked open. 

"The vent!?"

Charjabug let out a small yawn and snuggled on the floor.

"What have you done!?" Victor dropped his backpack and scooped the Charabug off the floor, staring face to face with the sleepy bug.

"Charja... Bug... burp!" The pokemon burped once again, but in front of Victor's face this time, leaving the boy with a few splotches of berry on him.

Victor had a comedic dead stare where his eyes lost the brown color in them, just staring at the now yawning Charjabug that didn't seem to mind being suddenly carried by a stranger.

"..."

The Charjabug made a few more tired grumbles, then actually lifting its sleepy eyelids and gazing at Victor.

"..."

"Bug?" It tilted its body with a question mark appearing over him.

"You're just noticing I'm here!?!"

"..."

Charjabug closed his eyes.

"Zzzzzzzz..."

_ "HE FELL ASLEEP!?!" _

* * *

** ~{Outside-Five Minutes Later}~ **

"So... What happened?" 

Gloria asked this question with a blank face as she saw Victor approach her looking like he was about to give a whole business presentation. 

The boy's outfit contained a set of black business clothes with a white dress shirt underneath with the addition of his out of place brown running shoes. In the boy's arms was the Charjabug from the bathroom, the pokemon sleeping peacefully in his hands as he was carried to their small camp. Victor's pokemon walked beside him while staring at the dozing Charjabug rather confused as their trainer stopped in front of Gloria with a comedic dead gaze in his eyes.

"We were taking a bath... Then when I went to my clean clothes out of my backpack, I found this one eating all the berries inside... He spread berry juice on everything... What I'm wearing now was the only thing the pokemon center had besides nurse outfits..." He said in a lifeless voice.

"Yikes." Gloria's blank expression didn't change. "So... What are you going to do with him?"

"..."

Victor turned the sleeping Charkabug towards himself, staring at his peacefully sleeping face while his body made small accordion sounds.

He slowly reached a finger and poked the little guy on his face, the pokemon wiggling in Victor's hands while making adorable squeaks.

Victor's dead eyes suddenly regained color and sparkles started shining around him despite his blank stare.

"I wanna keep him."

Victor's pokemon, along with Gloria, all comedically fell to the ground.

"WHAT THE HELL LEAD TO THAT!?!" Gloria suddenly shouted.

The Charjabug's eyes shot open by the sudden scream, scaring him to suddenly conduct electricity all over his body.

"CHARJAAAAAAAA!!!" 

Due to holding him, Victor was comedically electrocuted.

"GYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!" Victor's gray beanie blasted up and landed on Gloria, while the boy's hair shot up straight as he was shocked for several seconds, his pokemon backing up with widened eyes by the sight.

When the electricity died down, Victor was charred to a crisp with his eyes bulged as Charjabug started squirming in his hands.

"A-Are you alright!?" Gloria stuttered with a shiver, just picturing how much that should've hurt.

Victor's body twitched and he released Charjabug, the pokemon falling to the ground and landing on his back, making him struggle to wiggle back up.

"That... stung." Thee trainer coughed smoke.

Charjabug flipped back onto his stomach and frantically looked around.

"Char!? Bug, Bug!? Charjabug!?"

Victor shook his body and somehow removed most of the black char on him, then crouching down with a reassuring smile as if nothing happened despite his hair still being stiffed up.

"Heeeeeeeey little fella. How are you doing?"

Charjabug turned to Victor and his eyes formed hostile yellow pupils of the sort.

"Charja!" The two yellow stubby spikes on his face sparked electricity threateningly.

"Er, I don't think that's a good idea." Victor told him with an innocent smile.

Charjabug noticed what he meant and flinched as he saw the hostile glares of Victor's three pokemon, but was more afraid of the silhouette and red eyes of the girl beside the boy.

Gloria cracked her knuckles.

"Ch-Charr!!!" Charjabug jumped back into Victor's arms, surprising the boy as the pokemon wiggled in them with comedic tears. "Char! Bug! Charjabug! Char!"

"Really? You're asking me for help after you  _ ate _ all my berries,  _ dirtied _ the rest of my clothes, and then  _ shocked _ me to a crisp." Victor asked with a blank stare.

Small accordion sounds came from Charjabug as his pleading eyes stared up at Victor.

"Char... Charjabug..." He whimpered.

Victor sighed, then gently patting the Charjabug on his head.

"Now, now, you're not gonna die... As long as you behave that is."

It was around this moment when Charjabug realized how Victor was answering back perfectly to what he was saying, making him look up with curious eyes.

"Bug?"

"Loud and clear." Victor answered. "But let me ask you something..."

A comedic scary oni mask seemed to form behind him as he stared at Chajabug with a close eyed-smile that didn't match the hostility around him.

"What made you think it was okay to dig through another person's stuff and eat everything they had?"

Chajabug flinched.

"B-B-Bug... Ch-Charja..." He stuttered.

Victor's menacing aura disappeared and he just let out another sigh.

"Figured as much... It's always about food with you guys, isn't it?"

Charjabug nodded frantically, his body making accordion sounds as he did so.

"But don't ya guys eat humus from the soil? Why didn't ya just bury yourself somewhere?" Gloria asked the pokemon, still glaring threateningly at him.

"Charja, Charjabug."

Victor sweatdropped. "He says that he got bored of humus all the time and went searching for different food... He climbed the pokemon center and wnt through the vent, leading him to the bathroom and snuffing out my berries..."

"How the bloody hell did a Charjabug climb that!?"

Victor then raised up Charjabug and stared directly into his eyes.

"You like food, right buddy?"

"Charja."

"Do you always want to have food?"

"Charja."

"Do you want to be my pokemon?"

"..." Charjabug formed a question mark over his head. "Charja?"

"Heh, I guess I should explain."

Victor turned to Gloria. "You can go to sleep for the night. I'm going to wash all my dirty clothes and explain to this little guy about our adventure."

_ "And explain my circumstances..." _ He also thought but didn't say.

"Eh? Are you sure? I can come help too, you know?" Gloria told him.

"No, no, you need your beauty sleep." Victor said as he picked up his backpack full of clothes and berry remains while holding Charjabug under one arm. 

He turned to his pokemon "You guys start sleeping too. I'll be fine with this little guy."

Ace shrugged and went into Victor's tent with Twilight following him.

Midori on the other hand, had started sulking again when he saw Luna, reminding him that he wasn't on the same level as the others. Luna sat beside him looking rather unsure of what to do, just continuing to pet her friend on his head.

"You'll evolve soon Midori, don't worry about that." Victor tried to reassure him before proceeding to walk into town to find a way to wash his things.

Gloria watched Victor leave with the still nervous Charjabug under his arm.

"Well... Good night."

* * *

** ~{The Next Morning- 9:10AM}~ **

Gloria and Victor faced each other in front of the Hulbury pokemon center. Victor had on a clean pair of his usual clothes and his backpack had been cleaned after an agonizing night of scrubbing and precise chemical choosing to make sure his father's backpack wouldn't get ruined.

"So... You're gonna fight Nessa then?" Gloria asked.

"Yeah. You should head back to Motostoke and take on the fire gym. Hop should be near there training." Victor told her.

"Alright then..." Gloria looked disappointed, still wishing to stick to the boy.

Victor noticed this and reached over, removed Gloria's green bonnet, before then gently caressing her head.

"Good luck, have fun, be strong." He said with a happy smile.

Gloria lightly blushed and fidgeted from the warm feeling, even making small squeaks with each brush of his hand.

_ "Kawaii..."  _ Victor thought with a smile full of bliss.

"Wh-What about that Charjabug you found?" Gloria said as she moved away from Victor's hand out of embarrassment.

"Oh? Him? Well..."

He turned his back to Gloria, showing the top of his newly cleaned backpack open with Charjabug sleeping away, a sleep bubble growing then shrinking.

"The moment I brought up providing food and sleep, he wanted to come with me." Victor chuckled.

"That easily!?!" Gloria said, trying not to shout in disbelief.

"Well apparently, living in the wild is hard and tiring for him all by himself. Even if there's a lot of humus in the Wild Area, he said that pokemon seemed to have been getting more... aggressive than previously. So all he wants is a guaranteed comfortable place to sleep and with the meals to go with it."

"So... He wants to be a freeloader?" Gloria sweatdropped.

Victor awkwardly laughed, "Basically... But don't worry, I'm not gonna let him just loaf around, I'm gonna make sure he works with me to become stronger!"

_ "But he seems so lazy... Can he even fight?" _ Gloria sweatdropped.

"Okay... I'm sure you'll get him strong." She smiled.

"I hope so. He's an electric type, so first I'm gonna put him up against Nessa!"

"Eh?! So soon!?"

Victor nodded with a determined expression. "I'm gonna test out just how serious he's gonna be if he's sticking with me."

He turned to the street heading off to Hulbury Stadium.

"And that test is now."

Gloria gazed at the Hulbury Stadium in the distance, the gym that she had successfully passed just yesterday.

"Well..." She smiled and turned back to the boy. "Good luck Victor."

"You too Gloria." He smiled back.

With that, both teens went their separate ways, with Victor taking the street towards Hulbury Stadium and Gloria taking the path into the Galar Mines No.2.

Luna was poking out of Gloria's backpack and waved to Victor with a smile as she was carried off.

Victor waved back before proceeding to his destination in a confident march.

"Now then, Charjabu- Oh wait. I should give you a name, shouldn't I?"

Charjabug's sleep bubble comedically popped and he wiggled in Victor's backpack.

"Charja... Charja..."

Victor put a finger on his chin and stopped walking as he thought about a name.

"Let's see... Charjabug evolves into a Vikavolt, it's an electric type pokemon, hm... How about..."

He snapped his fingers with a bright expression.

"Tesla!"

The Battery pokemon just snuggled in his backpack, his sleep bubble forming once again as he slumbered away.

"You don't care what I call you, do you?" Victor sweatdropped as he heard his battery pokemon snoozing behind him.

He sighed, but then smiled.

"Well, Tesla it is then. I hope we can work together in the future."

The newly named Tesla made a sleepy nod.

"Now then..."

Victor adjusted his gray beanie before raising a clenched a fist up into the sky.

"Let's get that Water Badge with all we've got!"

* * *

** ~{About Five Minutes Later}~ **

"I'm terribly sorry, but Nessa isn't in right now."

"ACK!" Victor turned black and white.

"What do you mean she isn't in!?! I was so worked up to face her!"

The male Pokemon League staff standing right in front of Hublury Stadium bowed apologetically.

"I'm sure you were, but Nessa has chosen to go on leave as of yesterday afternoon, therefore as of right now, the Hulbury Stadium is closed. I can't tell you how long she'll be gone, as it up to her when she decided to comes back."

"Huh!? How long is that usually?"

The staff member looked up and thought about it.

"Well... The last time she decided to take leave from her gym, it lasted for about a week."

"A week!?"

"I'm terribly sorry. We will, of course, notify and encourage her to return, but it is ultimately her decision when she comes back."

Victor sighed and fell to the ground rather depressingly. "Fine..."

He forced himself to walk away from the stadium and then plopped himself on the railing that kept people from falling into the water.

"Just my luck... Things always have to be more difficult for me, don't they?"

He placed his elbow on the railing and rested his head in his hand, staring off at the sight of Hulbury and it's coastal waters.

"Now what am I supposed to do? I didn't have a plan in case Nessa wasn't in her gym... I wonder where she is?"

He glanced at several people sailing on the ocean, glanced up at dozens of Wingull flying overhead searching for food, and saw several water-type pokemon swimming close to the pier.

He then turned his head and stared at the Hulbury Lighthouse off in the distance, looking somewhat intrigued by the tall structure.

"Well..."

He stood up straight and adjusted his backpack, letting out a deep breath.

"Might as well check it out."

* * *

** ~{Hulbury Lighthouse}~ **

"He's telling me to quit modeling, isn't he!?" 

Nessa asked this question to Sonia over the phone. The water type Gym Leader leaned on the corner railings with her town's lighthouse standing tall behind her. There was easily detectable anger in her voice as she vented out to her friend on the other side of the line.

* _ Hmmm, is he? You sure you're not overthinking it? _ * Sonia asked, not sounding too worried.

"It was obvious what he meant! Who does he think he is!?"

* _ Heh, calm down Nessa. Aren't you getting a little too worked up on what he said? _ *

"But... He-!"

* _ Or do you think he actually had a point? _ *

Nessa suddenly turned silent, feeling her body tensing up as she put on a look of shock.

"No... I..."

Sonia sighed, * _ Look, I think that fight against Gloria _ _ just shook you up a bit. I think you just need to relax. _ *

Nessa flinched, "Y-You watched that!? I thought you'd be too busy!"

* _ Haha, I've got notifications set on for my phone to let me know when you're going to face someone. I promised Victor that I'd watch his battle against you, after all. _ *

Nessa's head fell on her arm as she felt the humiliation build up in her.

"Damn it... But it's not just that battle that's bothering me, I've lost a few other battles before them..."

* _ I know, I saw them. It was Hop, Marnie, and that one kid endorsed by the chairman, Bede was his name, right? You just got unlucky facing them all in a row. _ *

Nessa grumbled, "This sucks. What am I supposed to do now?"

* _ What do you mean? Just do what feels right to you. That's what I do! _ *

"Sure, maybe then I'll end up sleeping in a lab and forgetting to shower for three days straight..."

She heard Sonia slam her table.

* _ That was one time! I had so much work to do! _ *

"It only takes a few minutes to shower!"

* _ Huh!? Have you seen my hair!? Do you know how much I have to do to wash and then style it to keep this shape!? _ *

Nessa sighed and continued sulking, "Whatever..."

There was a brief moment of silence over the line before Sonia herself sighed. 

* _ This is why I asked if you've been getting tired recently... I think you just need a break. Don't go pushing yourself Nessa, alright? _ *

"Yeah, yeah..." Nessa twirled some of her hair as she stared off at the ocean.

* _ Don't give me that attitude. Go somewhere and relax, avoid modeling or battling for a bit and do something that you enjoy. Hang out with someone other than me, you'll appreciate their company. When you call me again, I expect you to be as hoppity as a Scorbunny! _ *

_ "But modeling and pokemon battles are what I enjoy..."  _ Nessa thought.

She thought back on what Rose had suggested for her, thinking about how 'high' she should be aiming for. 

_ "Am I really going to have to give up one for the other?" _

Nessa stopped hunching her back and answered her friend.

"Yeah, I'll do that... Thank's Sonia..."

* _ No problem bestie! Have a good time somewhere and then tell me all about it! I'll be waiting!* _

The water type user hung up her phone first, putting it away and resting both arms on the railing as she stared blankly into the distance.

She didn't even notice when someone passed the Toxtricity statues by the lighthouse and pulled at the opposite corner of the railing. The person rested his arms and head on the rail too while staring off into the beautiful blue water, not even noticing the beautiful woman at the other corner of the railing.

Nessa sighed once again.

"This sucks..."

"You're telling me..." A voice sighed back.

"What?"

"What?"

Both the boy and young adult turned to each other, where Nessa instantly recognized the young boy to be Victor, the boy that her bestie had told her so much about.

Victor recognized Nessa just as fast, feeling entranced by her blue eyes, but also detecting some sort of frustration in them.

"..."

Neither expected the other to be there. As they had both been sulking for different reasons to both noticing anyone.

The sounds of chirping Wingull, the roars of the waves, and the accordion-like sounds of Tesla sleeping in Victor's backpack rang through the area as both humans stared at one another.

"You are..." Nessa muttered, examing Victor and his attire.

Victor shined brightly as he approached her with a bright smile, feeling his joy return to see her.

"Hi, Nessa!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Stands beside a crashed kart) Well then, turns out Mimikyu's can't drive too well... But what's this? It seems there appears to be some doubts in Rose of whether or not Galar will remain energy filled, hope he doesn't do anything crazy, right? And what's this!? A Charjabug!? (Squeals) I've always loved that little guy and his whole evolution line! But... this one seems a little lazy, doesn't he? Meh, still love him. Oho? And it appears our best boy has met up with the model and Gym Leader herself. What will happen next? Look forward to another chapter of "How does a boy accidentally charm every female he meets!?" (Slips on a Mario cap and mustache while putting on a yellow cape) Until next time! YA-HOO!! (Flies off into the sky)


	13. The Beauty Of The Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A Mimikyu steps out of an animal crossing house)
> 
> Heyo! Pikaboo here! Just wanted to say something before you start reading! I wanted to have this whole chapter for Nessa and then wanted the next chapter to move on to the gym battle, but there was a lot more written than I had expected to write, so this chapter and the next will be like a part one and part two thing. Then the chapter after will probably move on to her gym battle.
> 
> But there is something even more important that I have to say, and that is...
> 
> IT'S MY BIRTHDAY! (House blows up with confetti and streamers)
> 
> WOOHOO! 19 years old! One more year closer to death! So I wanted to take this day to thank all of you readers for choosing to read this fic. And not just that, but to celebrate with you guys, I released a chapter of this AND of my other fanfiction, To Be A Hero! Check it out if you're a fan of My Hero Academia! But this birthday is already great so far! Not only do I get oreo cookies and cream cake, but I got an episode of pokemon Twilight Wings released with it!? And this is episode is about Allister, the precious boy who I relate to WAY more than you know!? He even uses my favorite typing of ghosts!
> 
> But anyway, once again thanks to everyone who takes time out of their day to read my fic, love you guys.
> 
> Now back to the chapter!
> 
> (Turns back to blown up house)
> 
> Hm, guess I should fix that first.
> 
> ~{Pikaboo73- July 3, 2020}~

**~{Hulbury-9:16AM}~**

Victor had been disappointed that he wasn't able to face Nessa since she wasn't at her gym, but the moment he saw the Gym Leader herself right beside him at the Hulbury Lighthouse, he immediately cheered up with a bright smile.

"Hi, Nessa!"

Nessa stared at the boy that her bestie had told her about, looking rather puzzled as she examined him.

"Wow, I was bummed when I heard that you might be gone for a while, but I didn't expect to meet you so soon!" Victor beamed.

Nessa felt her previous worries get placed on hold as her curiosity replaced it, the young adult grinning as she removed herself from the railing she had been sulking on.

"Oh? So this is the famous Victor I've heard so much about?" She giggled.

"Eh? I'm not _that_ famous to have so much information spread about me, am I?" Victor awkwardly chuckled, not really excited thinking about that.

Nessa circled around the boy with a slight, close-lipped smile. "Well, I don't know how much everyone _else_ knows about you, besides the fact that you've been endorsed by Leon, but what _I_ know I've heard from Sonia."

_"Oh god, don't tell me Sonia told Nessa weird things like what my mom told her?"_ Victor deadpanned.

"Erm... What did she-?"

Nessa put a sudden finger to his lips while forming a mischievous smile.

"Shhh... Se-cret~" she giggled, knowing that she probably shouldn't share the information Sonia said about Victor's mother and her 'encouragement.'

She pulled her finger back while Victor stared somewhat confused at what was said.

"O...kay?" He wondered if Nessa might've been told what his mother told Sonia anyway, which in that case, wouldn't be new. So maybe he didn't have to worry too much.

"Wait a second-!" He realized, "You're friends with Sonia?"

Nessa froze and stared with widened-eyes along with raised eyebrows. "Huh!?! She never told you about me!?!"

"Well, not really." Victor admitted awkwardly.

Nessa facepalmed with a sigh, "I thought that was why you were so familiar with me... You didn't even introduce yourself."

"Oh. I mean, you already knew who I was. And people have told me that I'm rather carefree." Victor chuckled. "But anyway, so you and Sonia are friends?"

Nessa cheered up as she raised two fingers in a peace sign while winking at Victor with a smile. "More than that, we're besties!"

_"Oh yeah, I can already tell."_ Victor found amusement by how Nessa mimicked Sonia's actions. "How long have you known her?"

Nessa lowered her arm, "I met her about ten years ago. We both took the Gym Challenge at the same time."

"Oh? At the same age?"

Nessa shook her head, "Nope, I was a year older than her, but I guess it was actually just by a few months."

Victor's smile slightly dropped as he asked another question, "Er... Can I ask how was Sonia in the Gym Challenge?"

Nessa looked down. "Heh... Amazing. She and Leon took on anyone and _everyone_. Or so, that's how it was at first..."

"But... then she dropped out?" Victor deduced.

Nessa nodded, "So she told you that?"

"Yeah..." Victor admitted.

Nessa sighed, "Well, that's what happened. I really thought Sonia would be with Leon the whole way. But then one day, she just thought the Gym Challenge wasn't for her. It really confused me because she had just beaten Kabu, who was still the Gym Leader for Motostoke back then and is still considered to be a blockade for most challengers even now. I wonder what made her suddenly quit..."

"She never gave you a reason?" Victor raised an eyebrow.

Nessa shook her head, "Never a straight answer."

_"Sonia said she lost a few times, especially to Leon... But was that really it?"_ Victor wondered.

He noticed the disappointed look in Nessa's eyes, deciding to change the subject. And it was apparent that the Gym Leader herself didn't know why her bestie had quit, so it was pointless to keep asking.

"Ahem... So how did _you_ do on the challenge?"

Nessa perked up as she remembered her journey, casually leaning on the railing as if to look cooler. "I beat the challenge and made it all the way to the Pokemon League!"

Victor's eyes sparkled. "You did!? How was it like!? How far did you get!? How many people did you face!?"

"Um..." Nessa's expression suddenly changed after those questions, the young adult averting Victor's gaze with hints of embarrassment. "I... actually didn't get too far in the league itself... I lost in the second round..."

_"Ouch."_ Victor thought with a blank look now, thinking about just how many people must've been in the world league.

"B-But I was still pretty proud of getting that far!" Nessa recovered. "And not just that, since I had all the gym badges, I went back to the league every year and managed to move to the higher rounds at least. Then, because of my above-average ranking and my team of water types, I was offered to become the Gym Leader for Hulbury by Rose when the previous one retired."

"Wait, _that's_ how recruitment works? Based on the results of the league and if a trainer uses a preferred typing?" Victor asked, rather intrigued.

"Heh, not really. There isn't really a process for recruiting Gym Leaders. It's usually just the chairman choosing someone he's got a good feeling about. But I guess having a lot of water types is a factor that convinced him to choose me to be the _water_ Gym Leader.

Victor raised an eyebrow. "So, it's just kinda biased then?"

Nessa laughed and pat his shoulder, "Pretty much! And no one usually rejects the offer to become a Gym Leader, there's a lot of benefits with it, including battling a lot of people as the job!"

"Since you're saying battling itself is a _benefit_ , I'm assuming you love to do it?"

"Sure do! Every Gym Leader loves to battle, myself included!" Nessa declared as she pointed her thumb at herself with a smirk.

"Oh, okay then. Then there must be a reason why you left your gym today, right?" Victor innocently asked with a closed-eye smile.

Nessa flinched as she was reminded of her recent losses in a row, making her turn away from Victor while awkwardly sweating.

"Well, I um... kind of needed a break."

"Oh, I guess that makes sense. I'm sure fighting hundreds of trainers must make you tired throughout the day." Victor nodded in understanding before asking another question. "So when are you gonna come back?"

"Oh right... You want to get your water badge, don't you?" Nessa realized with a quiet sigh. 

She turned back and stared at how excited and confident Victor looked, the boy already seeming ready to face her. She remembered already losing to Hop and Gloria in addition to two previous trainers, remembering the announcer pointing out that this had rarely happened to her. She wondered if going back to her gym now and facing Victor right then and there would give her another humiliating defeat, which would make it her _fifth_ in a row.

She remembered the question she had asked Sonia when they had met up in the cake shop in Turffield.

_"So, you think he can get through me?"_

_"Definitely!"_

Remembering that immediate claim and remembering her losses, Nessa's eye twitched. She turned away from Victor yet again, not wanting to have another battle that might just completely break her spirit.

"Um, maybe not today..."

"Oh, okay then..." Victor said, sounding somewhat disappointed. "So, what are you gonna do now?"

"Well..." Nessa scratched her cheek, realizing that she hadn't thought too far ahead on what she would do with the free time she suddenly got.

Or so she thought she had free time.

"Miss Nessa!! There you are!"

"Eh?" Victor and Nessa looked back to see a crew of people wearing red life-vests and holding up cameras running towards them.

"You guys!?!" Nessa exclaimed in shock.

"Fans?" Victor chuckled as he watched the group get closer.

"Er, sort of. They're the camera crew I work with for my modeling job." Nessa explained.

Victor's eyes widened into a look of realization. "Oh yeah, I forgot! You _are_ a model!"

_"Why do I feel hurt by that?"_ Nessa sweatdropped.

A middle-aged man wearing brown glasses, a green cap, and with a mustache and beard connecting together led the crew to Nessa.

"We're supposed to have your shoot today at the Lake of Outrage, remember!?" He called to her.

Nessa's eyes grew with shock.

"Huh!? That's today!?!"

The crew stopped in front of Nessa and a confused Victor.

"Yes! We arrived at your gym fifteen minutes ago but were informed that you weren't there!" The man told her, annoyed.

Nessa groaned and rubbed her eyes, _"To think I forgot... I really am out of it..."_

The man then noticed Victor standing beside their model, making his eyes light up with a bright smile.

"Oh? Aren't you Victor, one of the three challengers endorsed by Champion Leon!?" He excitedly stammered.

"Er, yeah, that's me." Victor awkwardly chuckled, still feeling awkward about being well known to everyone just for being endorsed.

The man's eyes sparkled.

"Ooo! This is a big opportunity then! I'm the director of the Dynamax Snap Studio! I'm sure you've heard of us! We've been looking for you! Everyone is dying to know why the world champion took an interest in you and your other two fellow trainers! Where's Hop and Gloria!? Can you spare some time so we can have an interview with you!? Can we take a few pictures of you to go with it!?"

"Erm..." Victor sweatdropped, wondering how to answer all of this.

The director didn't even wait for an answer, he just turned to Nessa with brimming excitement. "Let's bring him with us for our session! It'd be another thing to catch the eyes of Galar besides just your pictures Miss Nessa!"

Nessa frowned, "Hold on a minute, don't just go dragging people with us. I'll come with you guys, so just leave the kid alone."

"It's okay Nessa, I kind of want to go." Victor said with a reassuring smile.

The Gym Leader turned to him in surprise, "Huh? Are you sure? These things can take a long time and get rather boring if you're just sitting around watching."

"I mean, I don't have anything better to do since I can't battle you right now. And he mentioned the Lake of Outrage, didn't he? I kind of want to see a part of the Northern Wild Area for the first time!" Victor responded in excitement.

The director grinned, "Excellent! Then would you please follow us to the Hulbury Pokemon Center? Our rides will pick us up there and then take us to the lake!"

The group proceeded to walk away from the lighthouse, with the crew rushing ahead while Nessa and Victor took their time walking behind.

Nessa glanced down at Victor with an eyebrow raised. "Are you really okay with this?"

Victor nodded, "Yeah, I don't see why I should refuse." He said as he reached an arm back into his backpack to push Tesla back in, who had sleep-squirmed a bit out of his bag.

"Or is it that you just _can't_ refuse requests?" Nessa giggled.

Victor awkwardly laughed, "I can't really deny that. But I do have a legit reason to go."

He turned to Nessa with a smile brimming in confidence.

"It might give me the chance to figure out what's bothering you."

"Wha-?" Nessa stopped walking and just stared at him in shocked silence.

Victor just chuckled as he walked a few steps ahead, "I know we met just a few moments ago, but I can already tell something's troubling you. It was pretty obvious when you flinched after asking why you left your gym."

Nessa didn't refute his claim, nor did she agree with it, she only just stared at him with a curious gaze.

_"He... saw right through me?"_

Victor stopped walking and turned his head back to her with positive eyes.

"I hope we get along Nessa, I'd love to get to know you."

Nessa's hair blew with the wind as she formed a puzzled look, the blue-haired beauty remembering the last thing her bestie had said about Victor.

_"You'll really like him, he's a very charming boy."_

Nessa formed a smirk.

_"What an odd kid."_

* * *

**~{Rolling Fields-9:34 AM}~**

"Heh... Heh... You've gotta be kidding me..."

Hop nervously grinned as his beaten up pokemon struggled to stand on their legs, they were covered with dirt and bruises all over their bodies.

"Victor fought this... monster?" He chuckled, the boy trembling in both fear and excitement as he stared at the large figure shadowing over him and his pokemon.

Conga was kneeling and using his sticks to hold himself up as he trembled, Sky had his wings open on the ground but felt pain go through them, and Wooloo's little legs shook as he comedically cried in fear.

Meanwhile, in front of them, a large Onix stared down at the group with menacing eyes. It growled as it gave off such murderous aura that Hop and his pokemon instinctively backed up.

"I... I knew Victor trained and all... But to think it was against something so... God, how do I even describe him!? We barely even lasted a few minutes!"

Onix seemed to be enjoying these newcomers shaking in his presence, the pokemon himself letting out some small growling that Hop could swear was actually chuckling.

He raised his tail up and it started glowing white, waiting for Hop to make the next move.

Hop closed his eyes and sighed.

"Well... We know what we want, right guys?"

His pokemon glanced back at him, rather unsure of what he was going for.

"To get stronger... And if fighting this Onix helps us do that..."

He opened his eyes and gave his companions a reassuring smile.

"Then don't we want to do it?"

His pokemon then sighed in the reality that they were probably going to continue foolishly fighting against such a force.

But in the end, they nodded in agreement that this was the way, even if poor little Wooloo still had water in his eyes with trembling legs.

Seeing their fighting spirit lifted up, Hop raised a fist and shouted.

"Then let's get back to it!"

"Corisquire!!!" Sky cawed.

"Thwackey!!" Conga shouted.

"B-Baaaaa..." Wooloo whimpered.

Sky took flight, Conga stopped kneeling and jumped up and down, while Wooloo nervously rolled around hoping he wouldn't get crushed.

"ONIX!!" 

The giant rock pokemon swung his tail.

* * *

**~{Flying Taxi-9:58 AM}~**

"Whoa!" Victor had his face right next to the window as he stared out at the broad landscape of the Northern Wild Area below. He was sitting left of Nessa in a flying taxi while her camera crew members were in separate rides flying around them. After all, a Corviknight could only carry so many people and their luggage at a time.

Nessa tilted her head curiously as she saw Victor's reaction. "Is this your first time in a flying taxi?"

Victor glanced back at her with a bright aura. "Yup! I've only traveled Galar on foot for the experience and pokemon encounters, but now that I'm looking at the region from up here, I can see that it has such a cool view!"

He reached down into his backpack that was on the floor and pulled out Tesla, the Charjabug still sleeping as seen by the sleep bubble he had.

"Hey Tesla, look at the view!"

The pokemon just grumbled as Victor tried to convince him to gaze out.

_"Heh, he still acts just a child."_ Nessa giggled to herself as she watched his excitement.

However, by thinking about this, she suddenly had a few thoughts come to mind that had her stare rather confusingly at the boy. Thoughts of something Sonia had told her about Victor.

_"He's someone that's been in Postwick ever since we were taking the Gym Challenge ourselves. But he's never actually been out of his house. At least, not until recently when he decided to take the challenge himself."_

Nessa put a hand on her chin in thought, remembering that Sonia had 'known' about Victor for ten years, but had never actually 'met' him until recently.

_"But... why didn't he ever go out of his house? And why did he choose to leave just as the Gym Challenge started this year?"_

With the boy in front of her, maybe she could get an answer.

"Hey, Victor?"

Victor had Tesla on his lap as he fed him a berry, then cheerfully turning his head to Nessa.

"Yeah?"

Nessa put her hands on her lap, "Something I talked to Sonia about was how you were always held up in your house, is that true?"

Victor sighed, "So she _did_ tell you about that?"

Nessa nodded, "Yeah, she mentioned it... So why didn't you ever go outside?"

The boy leaned back in his seat and he gently caressed a sleepy Tesla's head.

"Well, I _was_ allowed to go outside, but only in the forest behind my house, it was basically my backyard. Although, I did spend time in Hop's house since it was really close by, but that was about it for the most part... I guess you could say that my mom was just being overprotective. For most of my life, I was cooped in my house with no one else to talk to besides Hop and Gloria and some of their folks. Mom spent most of our time together just teaching me to ready myself for the outside world one day. You know, teaching me things like how to cook, set up camp, and finding my way in the wild, that kind of stuff."

"Really? That sounds pretty lonely though." Nessa remarked rather sadly.

Victor shrugged, "Well, my place did have a lot of pokemon that hung around. And as I mentioned before, I talked to Hop and Gloria a lot, but I always found myself wanting to explore Galar to meet new people and pokemon alike."

"Charja... Charja..." Tesla flipped upside-down on Victor's lap, his trainer then caressing his battery pokemon's stomach as he continued to talk.

"When I was at home, I met a lot of pokemon that needed help, and I always helped them. By now, I'm sure I made the forest area near my house into a safe and friendly place for the pokemon there, so I don't have to worry too much about them. So then... I found myself wondering about the pokemon in the rest of Galar. I asked myself, 'how many more pokemon out there need help, but can't get it?'"

He glanced up at the ceiling of the cab.

"When I was in the forest... a lot of pokemon got really hurt and struggled to live. So I know there are pokemon in Galar that must be in similar situations or live in environments of constant danger... So I made a choice to explore Galar to help any pokemon that needs it. However, I couldn't just leave my house, especially at such a young age. But now that I'm fifteen and have a lot the skills that most normal kids don't have, Mom decided that I was ready to leave."

Nessa leaned back with her head still fixated on Victor, "But... if you just wanted to help pokemon, then why did you decide to take the Gym Challenge?"

Victor stopped gazing up and turned to her. "I mean, I'm mostly taking the challenge to _help_ pokemon. I want to help them while I'm traveling to each gym, it's a reason why I prefer to go to travel by foot. And I think that becoming the champion will give me the strength and influence to fix a few key problems that I've noticed pokemon are facing in the Wild Area. A lot of them get hungry because there aren't enough berry trees planted around, and that results in violence among them... It's terrible to think about."

"Wow..." Nessa muttered in astonishment. "I didn't think you'd have such a... mature thought into becoming the champion. Nearly everyone starts the Gym Challange just because they think becoming the champion would be cool."

Victor grinned, "Hey, I think it'd be cool. But I like helping people rather than just being able to beat them."

Nessa rested her elbow on the door and placed her head in her hand, her eyes still fixed on Victor. "But doesn't going around helping every single pokemon you see get kind of hard when you're trying to train and battle for the Gym Challenge?"

"Well..." Victor remembered the previous day when he had to deal with Rainbow Rocket Grunts and had gone around helping several pokemon to the point where he had to return his three tired pokemon so he could deal with the rest of the trip himself. "Sometimes it does get annoying..."

But then he smiled as he stopped caressing Tesla, the pokemon flipping back onto his stomach.

"But I love doing both. Whether it's going around helping pokemon or taking part in pokemon battles, I don't favor one over the other, so why can't I continue like that?"

"..."

Nessa turned her head away from Victor and gazed outside at the beautiful landscape with a depressed look.

_"Doing both... huh?"_ She thought, comparing them to her current problematic thoughts.

Nessa and Victor suddenly felt both of their phones vibrate at the same time, making both of them flinch. 

"Huh?"

The vibrating lasted for several seconds as the two of them both pulled out their devices, finding a live video that had been sent throughout all of Galar.

"Huh? From the chairman?" Nessa muttered, raising an eyebrow.

The first thing that popped into Victor's head was his previous conversation with Chairman Rose about Galar's energy crisis.

_"Is he...?"_

Victor turned to Nessa, "I'll play it."

He tapped his phone and brought it between him and Nessa, the beauty leaning closer and finding the chairman appear on the screen in an office of the sort.

Nessa couldn't help but frown as she remembered her encounter with him after her loss against Gloria. However, if he was on the screen right now after sending alerts to everyone in Galar, then no doubt he had something important to bring up.

Chairman Rose had his eyes closed with his usual smile as he spoke.

* _Are we rolling? Yes, no, maybe so? Ah, we are? Okay then, *ahem*_ _Now, I'm sure all of you must be rather surprised as to why I'm broadcasting a message like this. After all, it's been quite a while since I've sent out something of this manner._ *

He folded his hands together on the table, slightly opening his eyes as a part of his smile fell.

* _So you should know that this is serious. It isn't an 'emergency' but it's still something that you shouldn't take lightly._ *

Nessa and Victor turned to each other, wondering what he was gonna say.

Chairman Rose cleared his throat before speaking about the issue.

* _Many of you may know this, but there have been recent sightings of a notorious organization within Galar... I'm sure you have heard of them, the ones known as 'Team Rocket.'_ *

Victor's eyes widened in shock while Nessa just looked curious.

* _For those of you who don't know, Team Rocket is a villainous organization that wishes to exploit pokemon for their own personal gain... They steal and capture pokemon, whether from the wild or from trainers themselves, using them to sell for funding or even..._ *

Rose's usually cheerful manner dropped completely to show a rare glare to the camera.

* _Using them to conduct cruel experiments... to the point where the pokemon can't handle it..._ *

Nessa noticed the phone shake in Victor's hand, the boy trying not to look angry, but was clearly shaken up by the thought of these pokemon subjected to such a fate.

Rose let out a sigh, * _Team Rocket is meant to be taken seriously... Before, they were only involved in the Kanto and Johto regions. However..._ *

He closed his eyes.

* _It appears their organization has grown to the point where they've been having more influence in other regions, especially here in Galar. They've become larger and have even renamed themselves, from Team Rocket, to the new 'Rainbow Rocket.' It's clear that they've become more dangerous in recent years... Which is why I'm broadcasting this message. If any of you catch sight of these people, please stay away and call the authorities. These villains are dangerous and operate in large numbers, so I advise everyone not to confront them. Please let our police force, my league staff, and the Gym Leaders handle them._ *

Victor looked down and narrowed his eyes.

_"So... Now that they're publicly known... Rainbow Rocket will either attempt to lay low, or might start accelerating their operations and not even make the effort to keep hidden..."_

Rose continued, * _We will do whatever we can to keep all of you safe, so I encourage everyone to stay close to the cities or make sure you have quick contact with someone at all times if you choose to be out at the Wild Area. And as for all of you Gym Challengers out there... please be careful. I can't bear to think of what would happen to any of you who try to fight these villains on your own. I encourage you to take the Flying Taxi services to travel between gyms, but I know most of you will choose to travel by foot regardless... Therefore, I can only wish you safe travels._ *

He formed a close-eyed smile.

* _I hope all of you can become strong, for the sake of Galar's future._ *

The message then abruptly ended, leaving Victor and Nessa both still staring at the screen with different expressions of worry.

Victor lowered his phone and leaned back in his seat, resting his hands on top of Tesla as he sighed.

Nessa saw the worry in Victor's eyes and patted his shoulder with a small, reassuring smile.

"Hey, you don't have to worry about them, Rose didn't mention this, but there are league staff scattered around the Wild Area in certain posts to watch over people there, so you'll be fine if you just stay near them."

Victor turned his head to face her, "I'm not really worried about facing those guys... I'm worried about others running into them..."

"Oh? Shouldn't you also be worrying about yourself?"

He shrugged, "I mean, running into them didn't really seem so bad for me. We were able to fight them."

"Huh!? You've already fought them?" Nessa was pretty shocked.

"Irk!" Victor realized that he probably still shouldn't have said that. He had instinctively spoken because of Rose bringing up Rainbow Rocket, making his mind assume that it was okay to talk about them.

He scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle, thinking of how to just play it off as nothing so Nessa wouldn't worry. "I-I was training in the Wild Area when I ran into them, but my pokemon were able to fight them off pretty easily."

Nessa stared with a small look of awe at the thought of such a boy already strong enough to fight a group of members from a dangerous organization. Like Rose had said, there would always be a group of these members together, which meant fighting a lot of pokemon.

_"He must be pretty strong then..."_

She grinned as she suddenly leaned against Victor's shoulder, "Well aren't you both cute _and_ strong? If any of those bad men show up, will you protect me?" She asked, using her hand to brush some of Victor's hair while using her other hand to twirl her own.

Victor just raised an eyebrow, "But... Aren't you a Gym Leader? You don't really need me to protect you."

Nessa pouted and leaned back with her arms crossed. "Eh? You're no fun..."

Victor laughed, "I'm kidding, of course I'd protect you! If I don't, then all of your fans would probably come for my hide..."

"Oh?" Nessa smirked, "Aren't you one of those fans?"

"Heh, well I guess I am." Victor admitted as he scratched the back of his head. "I always found you really amazing when I watched your battles. The light reflecting off the water from your pokemon always brought out the ocean blue in your eyes, it made you look so pretty."

Nessa was somewhat taken aback by his straight forward and detailed answer, feeling her cheeks warm-up.

But she didn't want to let herself get flustered over who she considered a kid, so she grinned and just giggled again. "Aw, you're _so_ sweet and honest. I guess everything Sonia said about you was right."

"Erm... Again, what _did_ she say about me?"

Nessa crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat with a satisfied smirk.

"Wouldn't _you_ like to know?"

"It was worth a shot..." Victor sighed.

Tesla, still on Victor's lap, had an eye open in thought after listening in on the emergency call from Rose. When 'Rainbow Rocket' was mentioned, he instantly remembered the previous night when Victor told him about his adventure to become the pokemon champion. But more importantly, the boy had also briefly mentioned the evil organization to him, but Tesla hadn't even listened too much on that part because he had been entranced the moment Victor had mentioned food.

"Charja..." He closed his open eye and snuggled on his spot, wondering if he should ask more about the group.

* * *

**~{The Lake of Outrage-10:23 AM: Sunny Weather}~**

"We're here!!" The middle-aged director said as everyone got off their flying taxis.

Victor had a large grin with an unblinking look at where he was. The Lake of Outrage was as beautiful as it was ginormous, with sky-blue water spreading out far and wide with so many pokemon swimming within it.

"Whoa..." He glanced back at the land beside the lake, where there was flourishing green grass with many tall, dark green pine trees providing plenty of shade on the ground.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Nessa asked with a smirk as she appeared beside Victor.

The boy frantically nodded up and down.

"It sure is!" He put a hand over the top of his eyes to shadow them from the sun as he squinted over at the land. He could see several pokemon in this part of the wild area already in their second or final evolution, clearly showing this was an area completely different from the southern part. "Looks like it's got a bunch of strong pokemon too."

"Yup, so be sure to just stay close to the group, we're going to be setting up repels around the area so pokemon won't come over here. Well, pokemon not from the lake that is." She said as she rustled Victor's head.

Victor readjusted his beanie and fixed his hair with a chuckle, "I won't go too far, I'd rather explore this area when I actually pass Motostoke Gym anyway." 

"Miss Nessa!" The director called with a wave, "We have your swimsuit for the photoshoot! It's on the yacht!"

Victor perked at the last part. "Wait a second, yacht?" 

He looked behind him and looked more to the side of the lake where, sure enough, there was a big white boat where some of the crew was already loading up some of their equipment.

"WOW! A boat!" Victor suddenly blasted towards it in startling speeds.

_"He's fast!"_ Nessa thought.

"Charja!?!" Tesla was still in Victor's backpack when he had started running, getting scared awake by the sudden fast movements and instinctively send electricity all around.

"GYAAYAYAYAYA!" Victor was stopped in place as he was electrocuted for several seconds, turning to a comedic black crisp before then falling face-first to the ground with smoke coming off him.

Nessa was dumbfounded by what just happened, quickly running over to the fallen boy.

"Oi! Are you alright!?" She asked as she got beside the boy.

Tesla let out a small yawn as he crawled out of the backpack to see what had happened, then noticing Victor twitching underneath him.

"..."

He just seemed to shrug as he crawled back into his comfy spot and snuggled.

_"He just left him there?"_ Nessa sweatdropped.

Victor twitched some more before shakily raising himself off the ground, "I-I'm... Okay..."

Nessa squatted down to the boy with an awkward laugh.

"Quite the Charjabug you got there."

Victor formed a strained smile, "Th-Thanks... His name is Tesla. I j-just meet him last night. He likes food... and sleeping... Both a lot."

Nessa reached forward into Victor's backpack and gently rubbed Tesla's head, the pokemon releasing small accordion-like sounds of enjoyment.

"He's pretty adorable."

"Yeah, I know... But I haven't really talked to him that much. I'm still trying to come to an understanding with him. H-He only seems to be with me for food and a place to sleep, heh heh..."

Nessa noticed his strain. "Er... Are you alright?"

Victor groaned as he got up from the ground and shook his body to get the char off him.

"I'm good... Phew, that really stings..." He dusted himself off. "Anyway... Let's check this boat out! It'll be my first time being on one!" He shouted with both hands excitedly in the air.

_"He really shrugged off such a shock?"_ Nessa wondered.

* * *

**~{A Few Minutes Later}~**

Victor basically bounced all over the yacht as he explored any area he was allowed to go in.

"Wow, a living room, a kitchen, and even a bedroom!? This place has it all!"

He ran to the front area of the yacht and put his backpack down, then going to the very front peak and leaning over to gaze at the large lake. The boat cruised atop of the water and passed many pokemon, with Victor feeling the wind blow against his face as the boat moved rather fast.

_"There are so many things to do in Galar besides the Gym Challenge! A sky diving camp where Leon 'somehow' ended up, maybe cruise around Galar's oceans or lakes, or checking out the power spots scattered around the Wild Area! I still have to get back to that...."_

He glanced down at the water and saw several pokemon swimming by the side of the yacht, including some Lanturns, Qwilfish, and even Mantykes just enjoying themselves.

Victor waved at them as he passed, with some of the pokemon looking up with happy smiles as he did.

Soon the yacht slowly came to a stop, leaving it at the middle of the beautiful lake that Victor was excited to go in.

_"Thank god I packed some swim trunks before I left home, maybe I could get in the water!"_

"Miss Nessa, you look fabulous!" Victor heard the director behind him.

Victor glanced back and saw the Hulbury Gym Leader come out from inside wearing an alluring swimsuit, showing off her sheer beauty.

Nessa wore a two-piece red swimsuit with a black semi-sheer sarong tied around her waist. The young adult grinned as she walked with new white sandals with black straps around her feet, approaching Victor before striking a pose to show off.

"What do you think?" She struck another pose with both hands on her head, giving him a vivid and arresting presentation.

Victor instantly gave a thumbs up with a big, innocent smile.

"Beautiful!"

Nessa giggled by how immediate the boy complimented her and how calm he was about it.

_"He really isn't afraid to speak what's on his mind, is he?"_

She put her hands on her hips, "Do you have a swimsuit on you, Victor?"

He nodded excitedly, "Yes, I do!"

"Then you should get changed and take a dip with me. Maybe you can even have a few photos with this beautiful young lady?" She winked at him.

"Sure thing!" Victor instantly ran indoors after swiping his swim trunks from his backpack, leaving the model behind with a puzzled look on her face.

_"Not even a reaction from a wink? Hm... Does he even get flustered?"_

"Charja..."

"Hm?" Nessa turned to the ground and saw Tesla wiggle out of Victor's backpack, the pokemon yawning and squirming around the ground while making accordion sounds.

"Oh!? Is this the boy's pokemon!?" The camera crew all gathered around Tesla and started taking pictures. "So this is a pokemon from one endorsed by the champion!?"

Tesla seemed to finally be completely awake for once, but was now confusingly glancing around at the random people around him, wondering what was even happening.

"Charja?" A question mark appeared over his head.

"Now, now, don't make the little guy feel uncomfortable." Nessa told them.

"We'll back up!" The crew said after taking some more pictures.

She then glanced out at the lake water, admiring the beautiful color of the sky reflecting on it. She remembered coming here before, and the pokemon that saw her on the boat almost seemed to cheer at her, to which Nessa waved back with a large smile.

_"This place hasn't changed since-"_

She froze as she remembered something else about the Lake of Outrage, making her smile fall as she released a wistful sigh.

"That's right. This is where I met... 'her.'" 

Nessa gazed down at the water, her face turning into a somber look.

_"Sonia... You were so happy when she let you take her... So why did you release her? Why did you release all of them?"_

Her reflection gloomed back at her as she thought back.

"I wonder how you're doing..."

She glanced up.

"Ariel."

"Nom, nom, nom!"

Nessa glanced back and saw the camera crew feeding Tesla happily, the pokemon seeming to sparkle as he ate anything offered to him.

"Dear lord, this one eats as much as a Snorlax!" The director chuckled.

Nessa's saddened thoughts warmed up a bit as she saw Tesla roll on the ground as if to beg for food like a Growlithe, making the crew chuckle.

"I'm back!"

Victor came out shirtless and barefoot, wearing black swim shorts with a red waistband. His normal clothes were balled up in his hands as he grinned with excitement.

Nessa's eyes widened in wonder.

_"Huh, you can tell he works out."_ She couldn't help but notice.

The director clapped his hands, "Perfect timing, Mr. Victor! We were just getting acquainted with your Charjabug!"

"Just Victor is fine." He approached them and crouched down to his Charjabug. "About time you stopped sleeping, Tesla!"

Tesla squirmed towards Victor and looked up at him, opening and closing his mouth.

"Charja, Charja!"

"Don't tell me you're hungry?" Victor deadpanned.

"Well we have a chef on board who will be preparing lunch in about an hour, so I hope he can wait until then. But in the meantime, let's get some work done!" The director clapped once again. 

"Miss Nessa, we would like to get a few shots of you with some of the pokemon here, and Mister- *Ahem* I mean, Victor, we would also like an interview with you just to answer some curious questions many pokemon fans have had about you and your other two friends."

"Sound good to me! Can I get in the water after?"

"But of course! Oh, and do bring your pokemon with you, we may want a picture of you with them!"

_"He's really gonna milk this out as much as he can."_ Nessa rolled her eyes. 

Victor held Tessa in his arms and followed the director excitedly, leaving Nessa and few men with cameras behind with the addition of a woman supervising them.

"Alrighty Miss Nessa, we're ready to start!"

Nessa brushed some of her hair back before doing some light stretches.

"Good, then let's get swimming." She said, taking deep breaths to keep herself composed.

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-Motostoke}~**

"You really are a strong lassie, I wish you good luck on your travels."

This what the Motostoke Stadium Gym Leader and fire type user, Kabu, said to Marnie as he walked her out of his gym. He had a towel around his neck as he smiled at the young girl who had just win the fire badge from his gym.

Marnie hugged her Morpecko in her arms, feeling tired after an intense battle with Kabu where she managed to prevail.

"Thank you, I'll do my best..." She shyly responded.

Kabu saluted her before turning around and heading back into his gym, leaving the girl outside.

Marnie looked down at her Morpeko, her usual intense gaze looking slightly warmer as she recalled what she had accomplished.

"We did Morpeko... We got our third badge."

"Mor! Mor!" Her two-sided pokemon joyfully shouted.

"Kabu was really tough, but ya managed to beat him in the end... Thank ya." Marnie squeezed her pokemon tighter.

Morpeko cheerfully chirped as she snuggled in her trainer's arms. Both were in high spirits now that they had already beaten Galar's southern gyms. Now they were going to head to the Wild Area to train even more so that she could prepare herself for the even more dangerous paths of the Northern part of Galar.

She took the odd mechanical elevator down to the first level of the city, where she made her way down the street.

But... as she started walking, the people passing by eyed her suspiciously.

"Wait, ain't she the one on those banners Team Yell carry around?"

"I think she is, so she's the reason they're always making trouble?"

"She looks kind of scary... Don't look at her."

Marnie quickened her pace.

"Isn't she from Spikemuth?"

"It'd be bad to get involved with her..."

"Wait, that's Piers' little sister, isn't she?"

"Oh dear, no wonder all of Team Yell is causing havoc for her then..."

"Mor!" Morpeko hissed at passing people while Marnie kept her head down as she made her way out of the city.

It wasn't until she made it to the bottom of stairs when she stopped, her eyes hidden in shadows.

_"They always think we're bad... It's always the same..."_

Marnie never spoke out against these people, her timid nature always held her back. All she did each time was just escape and find somewhere to be alone.

_"Team Yell may be... 'loud' and sometime cause trouble, but they're not really bad folks... And Piers ain't a bad person, he's one of the nicest people in the world... And yet... yet..."_

She took deep breaths as she tried to calm herself.

_"Everyone thinks he's evil... They think WE'RE evil. They're always looking at us bad. And because of that... I-I was never able to make any friends..."_

She let out a sniffle.

Morpeko heard her and glanced up at her trainer in worry.

"Mor? Morpeko?"

"I-I'm fine. I just..." She held Morpeko with one arm and wiped her eyes with the other, finding herself thinking of the odd group of people she had recently became friends with. "I... just wanna see them again right now..."

"Mor..." Her Morpeko whimpered with a sad look.

Marnie slowly stepped out into the Wild Area.

_"I have to keep winnin'... I have to become the champion... I have to show everyone that they're wrong about me, wrong about Spikemuth... Wrong about Team Yell and Piers... If I become champion, then I can help bring life back to my home... I can change what everyone thinks."_

Through the water in her eyes, she formed an unwavering glare that made the league staff at around the area wince.

_"I'm gonna make ya proud, Piers..."_

* * *

**~{Back to Lake Of Outrage- 12:05 PM}~**

"Thank you for the interview Victor, it was nice getting to understand you better." The director smiled as he closed his notepad.

"No problem!" Victor was sitting on the couch with his shirt back on, deciding it'd be better than to remain just in his swim trunks.

On the couch beside him were all his pokemon, with Ace laying at one end with his arms crossed, Twilight perched on the back, Midori sitting beside Victor, and Tesla just sleeping once again on Victor's lap.

"I'm sure the public would be interested to see the team of one endorsed by the champion. Would a few more pictures be alright?"

"Sure thing!"

Meanwhile outside, Nessa floated in the water while holding a Chinchou in her arms, keeping a smile on her face.

*Click!* *Click!*

A few pictures were taken at a downward view from a cameraman still on the boat, while others were taken from a small inflatable raft.

They then took pictures of her holding a Qwilfish, the balloon pokemon surprisingly looking calm as the beauty held him.

"You're in perfect sync with even the wild pokemon out here! Just what you'd expect from the Water Gym Leader!" The female supervising from the yacht smiled.

Nessa smiled as she released the Qwilfish back into the water, "No, the pokemon are just too kind. By the way, is Victor still getting held up?"

"Ah, he should be-"

"CANNONBALL!!" "Raaaaaalts!" Two voices shouted.

The next thing everyone knew, they saw the mentioned boy and Midori both leap off the edge of the yacht together, both of them hugging their legs before bombing right into the water with a combined splash.

Ace and Twilight sweatdropped from the boat while Tesla sleepily squirmed across the floor back towards Victor's backpack.

Nessa stared in surprise and didn't mind some of the water splashing her, the young adult feeling amused by just how eccentric the boy was.

Victor and Midori submerged with large grins on their faces as they started swimming around.

"Man, I've never gone swimming like this before! The forest river was always too cold to get!"

"My, my, quite a wild one, isn't he?" The director chuckled from above as he came out.

Nessa watched as the joy shined off Victor as he and Midori both swam around the area. She saw the smile on his face, the energetic spirit he had as he pierced through the water, showing no sign of any conflict or worries whatsoever.

She suddenly recalled a sense of familiarity by watching him. An image of herself as a child replacing Victor, remembering the feeling of leaving behind every sense of worry or responsibility and just... letting loose.

This made her look down at her reflection in the water. 

_"When was the last time I've went swimming... for no other reason but just to swim?"_

She remembered always going to lakes and the coast, but it was always for work. Remaining still with pokemon for pictures, swimming to record a commercial of the sort, or even having some pokemon battles. For relaxing in the water, no... for relaxing in general, she couldn't even remember.

"Hey Nessa!"

"Hm?" Nessa raised her chin as she was snapped out of her thoughts.

Just as she took a stream of water to the face.

"Pssh!!" She sprayed out some that gotten in her mouth and wiped her eyes before noticing Victor grinning at her with Midori smiling on top of his head.

"Did you just-!?" She didn't finish as Victor swiped his hands to send another splash of water into the model's face.

Nessa quickly shook her head before smirking at the boy, "Hehehe... So that's how you wanna play it!?"

Victor simply laughed as he paddled back in the water, "You were the one spacing out!"

"Ralts!" Midori smiled.

Nessa brought her fingers to her mouth and let out a high-pitched whistle.

On cue, there was movement under the water that circled around Nessa, the woman grinning mischievously as she stared straight at her target.

All around her, several Mantykes, small manta ray-like pokemon, emerged from the water with the same evil look the water Gym Leader had on her.

"Eh?" Victor and Midori formed blank, comedically black and white expressions.

Nessa pointed directly at him.

"FIRE!!"

"Ma-FOOOOOOOOO!!!" The group of kite pokemon cried as they sent combined blasts of water at Victor.

"GYAH!!" "RALTS!?!" Both Victor and Midori screamed as a torrent of water engulfed the two of them into oblivion.

Midori was sent flying before he landed on top of a Lanturn that was casually swimming by. The light pokemon felt the small pokemon land on his back and turned his head with a question mark over him.

"Lan?"

Nessa then pulled herself onto a friendly Lapris that came to her, smiling with satisfaction as she placed herself onto its back.

Victor surfaced from the water and shook his head before he stared rather dumbfoundedly at Nessa.

"Wha-!?"

"That's payback!" The model declared as the Mantykes around her let out small chips that sounded like laughter.

"Hah!? No fair!! Why are those guys helping you!?" Victor pointed.

"Well, I've been here before." Nessa grinned. "I'm a friend of every water pokemon around! You've just messed with someone who has the force of the waves on her side, and now, you'll feel our wrath!"

"Hold on-!!"

"FIRE!" Nessa interrupted with a point.

"Actually, it's water- WAIT, WHAT AM I SAYING!?! I GOTTA MOVE!!!"

Victor turned around and moved his arms so fast that they seemed to resemble propellers, letting him swim away in blazing speeds as the group of Mantykes and even the Lapris chased after him while firing streams of water.

Midori dizzily sat up on the Lanturn he had landed on, the pokemon underneath not even seeming to mind him as he gently paddled on the surface to relax.

The Feeling Pokemon then caught witness to his trainer desperately swimming away from consecutive blasts of water from a merciless Nessa and her sudden army of pokemon.

"..." Midori just simply tapped the Lanturn he was on to warn him, and both slowly backed away.

_"Oh god! Oh god! Oh god! What's a guy to do!?"_ Victor panicked as he just kept swimming, but even he couldn't easily outswim pokemon meant for the water.

As a last resort, he dove under the water to avoid a concentrated blast once again. He quickly looked around under before seeing a Mantine starting to swim upward, clearly about to jump out.

He reacted fast and managed to grab hold of the Mantine and was pulled out with him. Victor held on to the pokemon as they both flew out of the water and into the air.

"Mantine!?" The pokemon cried in shock to feel Victor on him.

"I'llgiveyousomecookiesifyouhelpme!" Victor shouted in one fast breath, then taking another one as he and the Mantine fell back into the water.

Mantine's eyes shined at the promise of food before he emerged out of the water once more. However, this time he made sure to land on the surface and just swim quickly along it, avoiding multiple beams of water aimed for them.

"Haha! There we go!" Victor shouted as he raised himself while still holding on.

"Made an ally already? That won't save you!" Nessa laughed rather evilly as she stood on top of Lapris' back and pointed to have the pokemon fire once more.

Ace sat on the edge of the boat railing as he stared at his trainer getting chased, narrowing his eyes at the sight and stuffing his paws into his pouch. 

Twilight was perched right next to him, also staring down at how happy his trainer and his lady friend were.

The raven pokemon nudged Ace, "Cor, Cor."

Ace just rolled his eyes at his companion's suggestion. "Raboot... Boot."

"..." 

Twilight casually looked away as he slowly scooted closer to Ace, the rabbit pokemon too absorbed on his trainer to bother noticing.

Then the bird used his body to push the rabbit off the edge.

"RABOOT!?!" Ace actually seemed to defy gravity for a second, frantically flapping his arms in the air in a desperate attempt to somehow fly.

But of course, his efforts were in vain and he fell straight down.

"Cor! Cor! Cor!" Twilight laughed from the railing as the splash he witnessed went up rather high.

Ace emerged from the water seconds later with his fur looking flattened due to how soaked he was.

He fumed as he glared up at Twilight.

"RABOOT! RABOOT!!!" He shouted as he shook a threatening paw at him.

"Ace! Grab on!"

Ace turned around and his eyes widened to see Victor and the Mantine heading right towards him with what was basically a Hydropump of water following him.

"Raboot!?!"

Victor stuck his arm out as he passed Ace and scooped him up.

"Nice of you to join us!" He laughed as he placed Ace onto his shoulders in a piggyback fashion. 

Ace was caught off guard and had to hold onto his trainer's head as the Mantine took off faster with both of them, with Victor crouched down and keeping a grip on the pokemon as they avoided several streams of water.

"Raboot! Raboot!" Ace repeatedly punched Victor's head with his paws while lightly blushing from embarrassment.

Victor just laughed it off, "Come on Ace, isn't this fun!?"

Ace didn't like being on his trainer in such a childish manner, not one bit. But... seeing Victor smile up at him, feeling the air against his face, and the sudden exhilaration of how fast they moved...

He turned his head away with a grumble, not refuting what his trainer had said.

But of course, he wasn't going to admit anything either.

Meanwhile, the director adjusted his glasses as stared at Nessa's laughing expression, a genuine look of enjoyable exhilaration on the famous model that was rarely seen. Of course, he had seen Nessa smile from enjoying the modeling and connecting with the pokemon, but she had rarely ever just... laughed. She had always been working, and even when offered breaks, Nessa had just continued on acting as if she was fine.

The director chuckled, "What a sight."

One of the camera crew came behind him, "Director, sir, shouldn't we start filming-?"

The director waved him off, "Oh just let Miss Nessa enjoy this."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "I've never seen her let go and have fun like this."

The cameraman took a look as Victor, Ace, and the Mantine had gotten hit by a direct Hydro Pump, sending all of them comedically ragdolling in the air.

Once seeing them get hit, Nessa grinned rather smugly with signs of about to attack again.

_"Dear lord, don't tell me she's taking out her stress on the poor boy?"_ The man beside the director sweatdropped.

"Er... Shouldn't we be worried about the kid?"

"Meh, he'll live." The director chuckled.

* * *

**~{Thirty Minutes Later}~**

Victor dried Ace off with a towel while sitting on a patio chair on the yacht, letting the warmth of the sun help dry them off. In the seat beside him was Nessa with her own towel around her head, the girl smiling with a small hum as she got the water off of her.

"Lunch should be done in a bit, so just dry yourselves off and continue to relax." The director told them as he went to the inside.

Victor chuckled as he took the towel off Ace and saw him crossing his arms with a pout.

"Today was rather fun, wasn't it?"

Ace let out a 'hmph!' and glared over at Twilight, who casually looked away pretending he did nothing wrong.

Nessa let out a happy breath of relief as she dried her hair off, feeling much less tense than she had been previously feeling.

"It was pretty fun..." She answered to Victor, then turning to the boy. "Are you always like that?"

"Hm?" Victor turned to her with a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you just seem so carefree and so... positive. Don't you ever worry about anything?"

"Of course I do." Victor got up from his chair and left the towel for Ace, then walking over to his backpack. "You saw me worrying in the Flying Taxi earlier."

He carefully moved a sleeping Telsa out so he could pull out a container of cookies. He then walked over to the edge of the boat with these sweets and dropped some of them bellow to the Mantine that he had ridden, the pokemon happily catching them in his mouth.

"I worry about the people, I worry about the pokemon, I worry about the Gym Challenge, and now I'm worrying about Rainbow Rocket."

He turned back to Nessa with a confident smile, "But that doesn't mean I let those worries get in my head, I know I can handle all of them. However, I do know that sometimes a person won't know what to do and will let their worries can get the best of them, that's when they should just... talk to someone, I guess."

Nessa pouted at that last line, _"He's implying that to me, isn't he? Acting like he already knows me to that extent..."_

She turned her head away and put her hands on her head to start fixing her hair.

"I guess so..." Was all she grumbled.

_"He's just a kid... So why do I feel pretty annoyed?"_

*Slip*

"Ah!" Nessa felt one of her hair clips slip off and tumble along the ground, causing her hair to become undone, "Oh come on..."

She reached down and picked it up as Victor saw her down.

"Oh! I can fix it!" He declared rather excitedly as he put the cookies down.

"Huh?" Nessa turned to him rather surprised after picking up her clip. "Er... I appreciate the thought, but I keep my hair up in a unique style, and-"

"Oh don't worry, I got a good look at it, so I'm sure I can mimic it! I know how to treat a girl's hair pretty well, and I'm sure me fixing it right now would be better than you walking all the way to the bathroom to do it yourself in the mirror!" Victor said as he approached the girl rather cheerfully.

Nessa didn't look too sure but handed him the clip as he got behind her chair, "But... How do you even know how to do hair?"

Victor hummed as he got to work, gently brushing the girl's hair with his fingers. "My mom always had me practice doing hairstyles on her, telling me that I should be ready to do them for my kids when I get married."

"PFFT!!" Nessa covered her mouth so she wouldn't burst out laughing, as she had remembered once more what Sonia had said about Victor's mother and her motives.

Victor was surprised by Nessa suddenly moving, being careful not to suddenly pull her hair, "Er... Hold still please, and what was that?"

"Nothing, it's nothing... I just remembered something a while back." She muffled, wiping water from the corners of her eyes.

Victor shrugged before he continued working with a hum, gently handing Nessa's hair and twirling it.

There were a few seconds of silence, in which Victor wondered if it was finally time to ask something.

"..."

Meh, might as well.

"So..." He started, getting the model's attention. "You ready to tell me what's wrong?"

He didn't see the girl's face, but he can already assume that she was frowning.

"What do you mean? What makes you think somethings wrong?" He heard her ask.

"Well..." Victor started as he set a hair clip on. "I didn't realize it for a moment, but when we met, you were sulking like me. I was sulking because I wasn't able to battle you, but I never knew why someone like you was doing it. And then there's the fact that you left your gym which, when I asked why, you flinched. So... I guess those are just like signs to me that something is obviously wrong."

"..." Nessa lowered her head in silence as Victor continued doing her hair.

"I knew that you were in a bad mood, or at least stressed out in some way, so I came here with you just to see if I could help ease it." He smiled, tugging her hair a little. "And I'm sure I've done so, even if just a little bit."

Nessa felt her eye twitch, _"Is he acting like he planned this whole scenario?"_

"Aaaaaand there we go!"

After one last tug, Victor let go of Nessa's hair while backing up with some satisfaction.

"It's the first time I've done hair for someone other than mom, but I'm sure I did great!"

Nessa didn't look back at Victor, she reached to the side of her chair where a bag was and pulled out a small mirror. She opened it and took a good look at her hair from different angles.

Victor had a content, shining aura with stars in his eyes and his hands on his hips, waiting for Nessa to tell him what she thought.

Nessa closed her mirror, still not facing him.

"Well... You really did better than I thought you would."

Victor nodded happily. "But do you _like_ it?"

"I mean, it does look like my usual hairstyle so... Yeah, I like it."

Victor felt proud of himself.

Nessa stood up from her chair and walked over to the edge of the boat, propping her elbow on the railing and resting her head in her hand as a vast silence crept through the area.

"..." Victor stopped smiling as he saw her deep in thought, then slowly side-stepping his way over to her. 

He stopped just a few feet away from her, looking around in all directions awkwardly as he wondered what to do or say now.

"Um-?"

"Growing up... I've always wanted to be a model."

Victor's eyes widened to finally hear a start, stopping any movement and just peering at Nessa in silence.

"But it's not easy to become a model in Galar... We hardly even had any of them years ago. If someone wanted to be anything like a model, if they wanted to be scouted, then they had to find a way to catch the attention of _everyone_."

She gazed down at her reflection in the water.

"So... knowing this, I took the Gym Challenge to get the attention on me. I did my best to stand out from the rest of the challengers. And for the most part, I did, even getting to the league. But... as I mentioned before, when the time came, I lost in the second round. Of course, it just _had_ to be to Leon..." She rolled her eyes.

She then twirled some of her hair. "In the end, I didn't get scouted... But I understand why. I mean, I was ten at the time, so of course it makes sense that I wasn't gonna be scouted immediately at a young age. But still... as a ten-year-old, I became down in the dumps about it."

"But I'm assuming you found a way?" Victor tilted his head.

Nessa nodded, gaze still focused on the sparkling water of the lake.

"Since I finished the Gym Challenge and had all the badges, I've constantly been getting back into the league to try and make it to the top, thinking that would guarantee me to get enough attention to become a model. But, as I'm sure you know, _no one_ was ever able to beat Leon."

_"How do the world league rankings and pair-ups even work for those from different regions?"_ Victor wondered.

"However, at one point, I finally had a shot to make eyes turn to me. When I was sixteen, Chairman Rose offered me the spot to become Hulbury's Gym Leader, since the one at the time had just retired..."

Victor nodded, "Oh yeah, I remember that. I was ten at the time. Mom and I were both pretty surprised when it was announced someone so young became a Gym Leader."

Nessa chuckled, finally turning back to Victor to reveal a small smile. "If you think that's young for a Gym Leader, then you clearly haven't met Allister."

"Eh, Allister?" Victor browsed through his memories but couldn't find a moment where he had once heard that name. "I haven't heard of a Gym Leader like that."

"He's just a kid, even younger than you. He's not a Gym Leader yet, but Chairman Rose thinks he already has the strength to become one, so wants to offer him a position in the future. You'll most likely see him if you go to face Bea, he views her like an older sister."

"Huh, good to know... But anyway, back to what you were saying, Rose offered you the role of a Gym Leader?"

Nessa sighed and turned back to the landscape.

"Yeah... since Gym Leaders are usually popular, I knew that becoming one would help give me the highest chances of being scouted from a studio or something if I put everything into it. So when Rose offered me a spot, I took it. And sure enough, it only took about a year before I ended up pretty high on the popularity chart for Galar. So by the time I was 17, I was finally scouted by the director with us right now and offered the job I've always dreamed about."

Victor kept nodding as he listened.

"I had originally planned to retire from being a Gym Leader if I ever got my role as a model. But by the time I was offered the job, something... changed. Battle after battle, against hundreds upon thousands of different trainers, fighting together with my pokemon for gym battles and with my personal team for the league..."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

Nessa let out a reminiscing breathe, "I ended up... actually loving battles."

"Eh?" Victor blinked several times at that confusing claim. "Didn't you like pokemon battles before?"

Nessa chuckled, "Well, I didn't _hate_ them... But I kinda only saw them as just steps to get me to become a model. But after feeling the exhilaration of so many battles, feeling the bond grow between me and my pokemon... I ended up enjoying every minute of it."

"Ah, so then you ended up being a Gym Leader _and_ a model! The two things you love to do!" Victor concluded with a smile.

Before immediately putting on a puzzled expression.

"Wait, so then what's the problem?"

"..." Nessa turned her front to Victor and leaned back with her arms resting on the railing. She didn't stare at him directly, instead, staring at the ground rather peeved.

"In my five years of being a Gym Leader and four years of being a model, I've always pushed for the best. I've always given my opponents the best of my abilities, never losing too many battles in a row, and I always gave my fans the best I could give them. There was only _one_ time when things seemed to be going bad for me. At the beginning of a Gym Challenge just two years ago, I ended up losing to more opponents than I won, losing to a few of them in a row at different moments of the day. At the same time, it seemed that the stress was affecting my work as a model, the pictures taken of me at the time were supposedly not as 'high quality' the director needed them to be. Everything seemed to be going downhill for me, so... I guess out of panic, I closed off my gym and canceled some photoshoot appointments just to halt everything."

_"Oh, so that's the one week of absence that league staff told me about..."_ Victor realized.

"I just stopped and spent a lot of time alone. Then, when I returned, I started winning a lot more and my photos ended up returning to how everyone like them. It was as if my crisis had never happened. But... _I_ knew it happened, I kept on thinking about it with each passing day. So... from then on, I worked harder than ever before, I did whatever I could to make sure I didn't end up going through that again. I never lost a few battles in a row, heck, I barely even lost _two_ battles in a row against challengers. I always remained cheerful and stopped any bad thoughts so it wouldn't reflect in my pictures. I kept this up all the way until..."

Victor finally narrowed down on the problem.

"Oh... Then since you closed your gym again, that means-?"

"Yup." Nessa raised her head with a look of frustration. "It happened again. I lost. Not once, not twice, but _four_ times in a row."

"..." Victor stared at her with a neutral expression as she continued.

"After my last loss, Chairman Rose approached me. He told me that maybe..." Her hands balled into fists. "I'm not able to handle what I'm doing, so I should quit one of my jobs..."

"Eh? He said that?" Victor inquired, astonished to hear that the chairman would say such a thing.

"He didn't say those words exactly, but believe me, he implied it. But the worst part is... I thought about it myself for a moment..." 

Nessa looked bleak now. 

"To handle being a Gym Leader and a model... I know I get stressed out for several days of the week, I start to feel less confident when things look bad during a battle, and when bad things _do_ actually happen, I end up panicking over it... So I... I can't- Um..."

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, stopping herself. "Geez... What am I doing, complaining to a kid? I really am just a mess..."

Victor had a fixed expression on Nessa, getting a good idea of how she was feeling and how deep the problem was. From his understanding, the model and Gym Leader was doing more than fine, but she didn't believe it. For all the work she did in several years, it could be that the one instance where she considered messing up was what had her doubting herself. Not just that, but it seemed that the near-flawless image she tries to keep up has made her, and most likely others, make a huge deal out of something if she did mess up. 

It wasn't a healthy lifestyle, Victor knew that. Especially with additional problems for Nessa, such as rarely taking breaks for herself or believing that losing gym battles, even if several in a row, means that there was a problem with _her._

He took a deep breath, then smiling at the discouraged girl.

"Nessa, I think-"

"Director! There's no pokemon anywhere!" A man suddenly from the boat suddenly shouted.

Comedic lightning struck behind Victor as his eyes shadowed, _"Oh come on! But I was about to- why at the most important moment!?"_

He and Nessa turned to the director, who had come from inside and glanced over the edge and down at the water.

"No pokemon!? But then how are we going to film!?" The director exclaimed in disbelief.

Nessa glanced at the lake with Victor, and sure enough, there wasn't a single pokemon visible in the water.

"That's... weird." Victor muttered as he and Nessa grabbed the railing and looked around. "Did something scare them away?"

Nessa's eyes scanned the area of blue, watching closely for any sign of movement.

And she did see movement in the formed of a large shadow that appeared in the water, seeming to approach the boat.

Victor saw it too, narrowing his eyes as he waved a hand behind him to signal Midori to get ready.

They watched as the water started bubbling and moving as the shadow got near, the pokemon underneath starting to reach the surface.

Then it did.

Something large emerged from the lake in one large leap, sending water upward and shining brightly in the sun.

Everyone's eyes anchored their attention to the majestic creature spiraling in the air. But it was both Victor and Nessa who were not only amazed, but completely slack-jawed as they instantly felt some sort of feeling of familiarity to what was in front of them.

The majestic serpentine-like shape, the outstanding cream body, the shining colors of the blue and pink scales of its tail. This was a pokemon instantly recognizable for its beauty, always attracting the eyes of all who are near.

Milotic.

Victor and Nessa had a side view of the pokemon as it flew upward. Its red eye from the side gazed at the humans as she flew by, with the Milotic focusing on Nessa mostly.

The world seemed to move in slow motion as Victor and Nessa stared directly into the sparkling red eye. Victor found visions of his life flash before him, showing him a particular conversation with a certain ginger-haired beauty.

_"She was the most beautiful pokemon I've ever seen... The way she majestically jumped out of the water, the way she sparkled in the sun as she twirled... She never ceased to amaze me."_

Victor realized just what she had meant.

This could've been another Milotic, but he knew the chances of that were too low. They weren't common, and if anything, they were one of the rarest pokemon to ever find in the wild. And the way this Milotic just presented herself... He had no doubt in his heart of who she was.

At the same time, when Nessa's eyes gazed into the crimson eye of Milotic, she just knew. The memories all came flooding back, introducing her bestie to a lone Feebass in a lake and letting her name it, battling together and against her in the water, and watching as the pokemon changed shaped and evolved into a beautiful mermaid-like appearance. And now here she was there right in front of her, after nearly ten years of nothing, she was just here.

Victor and Nessa both couldn't contain their enthusiasm.

"ARIEL!?!" 

"SONIA'S MILOTIC!?!"

Both heard the other's claim, making Victor turn to Nessa in wonder at the name the pokemon had while Nessa turned to the boy, surprised that he somehow knew who the pokemon was.

"Eh?" 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Stands in front of house under construction)
> 
> So you're finally here, finished with reading my art. If you had to ask me, I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter. So much wholesomeness I felt when I typed things down and I feel like I set up the conclusion for Nessa in the next chapter pretty well. And... POOR MARNIE (Cries waterfalls) Why must the world be so cruel!? *Ahem* But on another note, a lot of things have happened recently in my life, especially with the pandemic going on, and I feel like my writing has gotten to the point where I'm gonna need more time to write chapters, so there may be more time in between posted chapters, sadly. Not just that, but I might want to use some time to watch some things that I've been curious to take a look at. One such thing is Star VS the forces of Evil. I have heard positive things about it and have even heard jokes where a 'Marco' has basically a harem of girls. New possible fic? Lol, who knows? But anyway, hope you guys understand if I take more time. But for now, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!
> 
> (Puts on hard hat) Now if you'll excuse me, I fix this house. Until next time, leaving a comment or suggestions for future events! And make sure to wash your hands and keep six feet apart!


	14. Soothing The Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (A Mimikyu in a dark cave mining some diamonds.)
> 
> So here we are yet again, continuing our adventure with our dear protagonist. Last time, Victor was going to address our favorite model's concerns, only to be interrupted by *gasp* a Milotic!? Well isn't this interesting? Let's see how our boy handles this situation! His bluntness and easy understanding of people shall contribute to this battle for friendship and more importantly, for the heart of a beautiful maiden! Not that he intended to earn it.
> 
> (Stores diamonds under rag and walks deeper into the mine)
> 
> Let's see just where the journey takes him next, hopefully you'll enjoy the good laughs and heart hugging feelings, if I actually manage to have written something that good... I don't know, I always just hope what I write its good. God damn insecurities... But anyway! (Pulls out book from under rag) Let's get to our story!

Nessa and Victor gazed at each other in shock that the other had immediately recognized the beautiful pokemon of Sonia's right in front of them.

"Wait, did you call that Milotic, Ariel?" 

"How did you know she was Sonia's?" Nessa asked at the same time.

They both froze in silence for a moment, not knowing what to do after hearing this.

"OOOOOO!!!! Was that a Milotic!? Quick, get the camera, look for it!" The director shouted.

His shouting helped snapped both Victor and Nessa out of their thoughts, but Nessa was the first to act. She put on a determined expression and stepped back, before then taking a running start and diving majestically off the boat.

"Miss Nessa!?" The female supervisor shouted in shock as the model splashed into the water.

Victor grinned as he jumped onto the railing with perfect balance.

"To infinity... and beyond!!"

He dived off the boat after her.

"Young Gym Challenger!?" The supervisor shouted with her hands on her head as Victor splashed into the water.

Ace, Twilight, and Midori all went onto the railing and peered down below.

"R-Ra-Ra-!!" Midori nearly lost balance and fell over, but Ace grabbed hold of his arm while narrowing his eyes at the ripples, remembering the goal his trainer had in mind for Sonia.

"Raboot... Boot." He made sure Midori was balanced before jumping back to Victor's backpack.

He paused for a moment as he saw Tesla sleeping in there.

Then cross veins of irritation formed on his head.

"Ra-BOOT!!" He shouted, yanking the Charjabug out at the same time.

"Charja!?" Tesla flung back and flopped onto the ground, startled awake. He then turned back to Ace with his eyes sparking yellow in anger. "Charja! Charjabug!?"

Ace just ignored him and dug quickly into the backpack before pulling out a league card, "Raboot, Raboot!"

Victor's other pokemon turned to him and saw Ace point at the card, revealing it to have a ten-year-old Sonia.

And the team written on the card included a Milotic.

* * *

** ~{Under The Water}~ **

Nessa swam more in-depth into the lake as her eyes stared intently down for any sign of the Milotic she had seen. She saw Mantykes, Remoraids, Qwilfish, and many more pokemon swimming deeper down with her, explaining why they weren't on the surface.

She kept swimming until she saw the silhouette of a familiar pokemon come out from behind a large boulder. Nessa stopped and floated in place the moment she saw this, glancing around as the shape swam up and circled around her.

Suddenly some bubbles from the silhouette seemed to blast right at her, making Nessa instinctively close her eyes and shield herself with an arm as she was slightly pushed back.

When she opened her eyes again, they widened with her mouth forming into a big, open smile.

Floating right in front of her, staring directly into her eyes, was the Milotic she recognized as Ariel. This was the strongest pokemon of her bestie, not seen for so many years ever since her release. Ariel seemed to have recognized Nessa immediately, knowing her ever since she was a small Feebas. 

The Gym Leader herself was taken aback as she was reminded just how beautiful the Tender Pokemon was, finding herself frozen in place as she stared at the sight of her floating right in front of her.

She only snapped out of her daze when she saw someone casually swim past her with a puffed-up mouth. Nessa blinked as she turned her head to see Victor swimming to be about two feet away from Ariel, his eyes brightened to see her.

He happily waved to Ariel excitedly, to which the pokemon curiously leaned forward and got a closer look at him, wondering who this boy was.

Victor reached a hand forward to her, and Milotic, sensing no ill intensions, let him gently rub her head.

The boy then turned to Nessa, the young lady surprised to see how instantly the boy seemed to connect to Ariel as he pet her.

Victor first pointed at Nessa and then pointed to Ariel, repeating to action a few times to communicate something to the water user.

Ariel seemed to understand what he was implying, even smiling.

Meanwhile, on the surface, everyone else was glancing down into the water, searching for any sign of their precious model or unique Gym Challenger.

But it wasn't long before the director saw a shadow coming up from the water, making his eyes widen.

"Get the camera rolling!!" He shouted as he turned back to the stiff crew.

The moment he said that, something burst out of the water and majestically flew through the air, making him turn his head back in shock.

The director's eyes widened as he caught sight of the Milotic once again, but both Nessa and Victor were riding atop her back. They flew so high that they momentarily eclipsed the sun, seemingly floating in the air as they reached their peak.

Victor was sitting behind Nessa with his arms wrapped around the model's waist to hold on. Both of them had open-mouthed looks of pure awe as they starting to dive back down, feeling the air against their faces and blowing their hair back.

"YAHOOOOOO!!!!" Victor shouted as Nessa laughed just as loud.

They plunged back into the water with a tremendous splash, but it was only a second later before they leaped out once more, this time with several pokemon joining them. The Mantykes that had helped Nessa blast Victor, the Mantine that had let Victor ride him, the Lanturn that Midori had landed on, and all sorts of other pokemon joined them in their diving and leaping spectacle.

With each leap out of the lake, water came up and sparkled beautifully under the sun, pokemon came out with shimmering joy, and the air felt powerful against all of their faces as they flew.

They jumped, dived, and twirled, laughing loudly each time they came up for air. At one point, Ariel leaped so high that she performed a flip, suddenly flinging the two humans upwards.

"Gyah!?" Victor and Nessa were sent up even higher than Ariel, the mermaid-like pokemon falling back into the water with a splash.

Victor and Nessa both dropped together into the lake after Ariel, sinking into the water for a few seconds before the Milotic scooped them up onto her back. Victor ended in front of Nessa and immediately grabbed hold of Ariel while Nessa instinctively wrapped her arms around Victor so she wouldn't fall off. Her arms ended up wrapping around his chest due to her being clearly taller than him, yet neither seemed to bother noticing and instead continued to enjoy the thrill of the ride.

"THIS IS AWESOME!!!" Victor shouted as Ariel leaped the highest she could into the sky, then aiming her head straight down as she dived, making them feel as if they were going down a drop on a roller coaster.

Nessa had glanced up at the water flying upward, her eyes widening as she caught sight of a rainbow that had formed over them.

_ "It's so beautiful..."  _

She had a look of awe on her face as she fell back into the water once more.

Victor's pokemon all stared with widened eyes as they saw him on top of the Milotic. Ace still held onto Sonia's League card, gazing out at the smiles of not only the trainers but of the Milotic they were riding on too.

"Raboot..." Ace sighed and stuffed the league card into his pouch, then sitting on the railing and watching the beautiful rainbow ahead of him.

*Snap!*

The director took a picture with a camera while the rest of the crew were filming the event. He looked at how the image turned out and instantly felt warmth as he saw the trio's precious smiles.

"It's... perfect!"

** ~{A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Phew... That was fun." Victor said with a satisfied exhalation.

By now, Ariel was gently swimming on the lake's surface, letting the trainers catch their breath after the liveliness they felt from the ride. The other pokemon that had been swimming around them had now gone off on their own, enjoying themselves on the lake.

_ "I guess they thought Milotic was dangerous. That must be why they all dived deeper into the water, to hide from her. I wonder if they came out because we came?" _ Victor pondered as he watched all the pokemon swimming around without any worry.

Nessa smiled as she gazed around at the pokemon, feeling the most ease than she's ever felt in a while.

She gazed back to Victor with a sweet smile, only to turn pretty red when she realized her arms were wrapped around him rather tightly.

She immediately let go of him and turned her head away in silence, trying not to bring any attention to what she was doing.

Nessa crossed her arms but felt her thoughts get confused,  _ "Wh-Why am I feeling embarrassed? He's a kid! A KID!" _

Victor didn't even seem to notice Nessa's flustered state as he just appreciated Ariel's appearance.

_ "I can see why Milotics are considered one of the most beautiful pokemon to see, they're so pretty. Yet they've also proved themselves to be quite the powerful pokemon." _

Victor suddenly formed a look of realization, his smile lowering for a moment.

_ "Wait... Amazing and powerful? Beautiful and strong?" _

He glimpsed back at Nessa, the young adult calming herself down and admiring the rainbow still above.

_ "Heh."  _ He smiled once more.

"So, this Milotic is called Ariel?" Victor asked.

Nessa turned to him cheerfully, no sign of any red on her by now.

"Yup, Sonia picked out the name herself!"

"Oh, really? Why Ariel?" Victor asked out of curiosity.

Nessa giggled, "Can't tell you that, Sonia would kill me if I told an embarrassing secret of hers."

"Great, now I'm  _ really _ curious. Can you tell me? Please? Please? Pleaaaaase?" Victor asked as he gave her puppy dog eyes.

_ "Hngh!"  _ Nessa was caught off guard and felt a blush form at the boy's expression, feeling herself unable to refuse. "E-Er, um..."

"Pwetty Pwease?" Victor tilted his head.

Nessa's head steamed, "O-Okay, fine! But don't tell Sonia I told you!"

"Alrighty, I promise!" Victor said with an excited salute.

_ "Heh heh, Charm was super effective!"  _ Victor thought jokingly.

Nessa sighed in defeat before saying with a smile, "Well... When Sonia was young, she loved Disney princesses. Having princess-themed parties, wearing dresses, you name it. So when she took the Gym Challenge, she was still rather fond of them, so she named all of her pokemon after them."

_ "Oh my god, that is SO adorable." _ Victor thought, the boy turning red from how pure that sounded.

"She called her Milotic Ariel because she resembled the Little Mermaid, she called her Ninetails Rapunzel, and she called her Meowstic... PFFT!" Nessa muffled a laugh, "S-Snow White." She squeaked, trying not to break.

"Wait a second, aren't Meowstics Psychic-types, though?"

Nessa then bellowed in laugher, "Hahaha!! Exactly!! Of course they are!! But Sonia had a white female one, so that's what she named her!"

Victor hunched over and grabbed his heart, taking a deep breath.

_ "HNNNNNGH!!" _ He hoped his heart wouldn't burst.

_ "I HAVE to bring this up later." _

"A-Anyway-" Victor started, trying to calm himself. "What can you tell me about Ariel here?"

The Milotic peaked back at them with a smile.

Nessa calmed herself to keep from laughing more, "She was her strongest pokemon, always able to take hits and last for such a long time. But I never thought I'd see her again." She was visibly brimming with happiness, gazing past Victor to look at Ariel, who stared back at her with a smile.

"Heh, I didn't think I'd find her so soon either!" Victor laughed.

"Huh?" That piqued Nessa's interest, "What do you mean? Are you implying that you were actually looking for Ariel?"

The pokemon herself grew curious upon hearing this and stopped swimming completely, glancing the corner of her eye back to Victor.

He pointed a thumb proudly at himself, "I sure am! I'm looking for all of Sonia's pokemon so I can bring them back to her!"

Now, this was a shock for both Nessa and Ariel. For such a task of finding rare pokemon all throughout Galar would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Not only that, but from what Nessa knew, Victor and Sonia should barely know each other, so for him to do such a thing for her...

"Victor, do you  _ know  _ how large the Wild Area, no- how large  _ Galar _ is? And not to mention Meowstic and Ninetails don't have a common natural habitat, they're unique to find. So what makes you think you can actually find them?"

"Hey, I already found Ariel!" The boy grinned.

Nessa somewhat frowned as she reached an arm to Victor and pinched his cheek. "You got  _ lucky! _ There was absolutely  _ no _ way you would've known Ariel was here!"

"Nwesswa, thwat hwurts..." Victor whined with comedic tears.

She let go and crossed her arms, not wanting Victor to go on a wild goose chase.

"Besides... What made you even decide to take on such a ridiculous task? You've only known Sonia for a couple of days, yet you decided to do something this... 'difficult' for her. Why?"

Victor rubbed his slightly red cheek with a hint of pain on his face, yet forming a small smile, "When she told me how amazing each of her pokemon are, she shined so bright! But the moment she talked about how she released them, she dimmed down... It's clear that she still really loves her pokemon. After all, the reason she released them in the first place was out of consideration for them... She didn't want them to be stuck with her in a lab, she wanted them to do a lot more with their lives. She smiles when we talk about them, but you can clearly see pain behind it."

Ariel lowered her head and stared at her reflection in the water while narrowing her eyes.

"Milotic..." She mumbled.

Victor picked up a sentence the pokemon mumbled to herself.

_ "Ah, I see..."  _ He smiled again. "Ariel, you love Sonia deep down, don't you?"

"..." Ariel raised her head but kept from looking at Victor.

"Sonia told me that you were calm, mature, and caring. So I know that you might not even be that angry about her letting you go, but that she lost confidence in herself as a trainer, right?"

Ariel turned back to Victor, somewhat surprised.

"So I was right?" He smiled innocently.

_ "How is he able to understand a pokemon's feelings so fast?" _ Nessa wondered as she listened in bewilderment.

Victor changed his smile to one of sympathy. "I know it must've been frustrating to see her suddenly drop out of a challenge that she was working so hard for. You guys must've worked so hard to make her happy, didn't you? All of you fought for her, right?"

Ariel looked away from him again.

"I know you guys must've felt heartbroken when she released you. You didn't want to leave her, and I know she actually didn't want to leave you. Her decision to let you guys go and find a better trainer might've been... 'questionable,' but she was ten! I'm sure she didn't think she'd regret it as much as she does now, but I know you'll see how much she truly feels about you guys once she sees you again."

Hearing that, Ariel gazed up at the sky, thinking about her former trainer. She even formed a small smile, which Victor noticed and felt confident about.

He then turned back to Nessa, "So when you ask  _ why _ I'm doing this, it's because Sonia misses her pokemon and they miss her too. It's because she's sad without them, and they're sad without her. I just... wanna see her and her pokemon smile the happiest they can be."

Nessa seemed to be in a trance as she felt the pure innocence emitting from the boy. There was no real goal or gain he wished to obtain from doing such a nearly impossible task, he just wanted to see genuine happiness for them.

Victor closed his eyes and grinned.

"You too, Nessa! I wanna see you smile too! Just like the way you did earlier! Your eyes sparkled so brightly like they do every time you battle!"

"E-Eh?" Nessa felt some odd warmth from his words.

"You have a lot on your mind, thinking hard about what you're doing and what you  _ should _ do. I know that even though Rose didn't start those thoughts, you claimed that he escalated them. But from what I can tell about Rose, he genuinely cares about people and pokemon alike, just like me! So when you tell me that he just straight up told you to quit one of your jobs, I find it hard to believe he implied that... I feel like there's more to it because I'm sure he'd be more considerate of what he says to you. So Nessa, what did Chairman Rose  _ really  _ tell you after your last battle?"

The model didn't seem to know what Victor meant about Rose, feeling her confusion grow. "Um, he told me that... I may need to think about how high I should be aiming for?"

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Is that  _ exactly  _ what he said?"

"Well, yeah! I mean- I'm sure it's close enough." Nessa muttered, annoyed.

That made Victor laugh, "Then I think I know what he meant! Nessa, I don't think Rose was telling you to quit one of your jobs. I think he was just telling you to lower your own expectations for yourself!"

"What?" If Nessa was confused before, now she was utterly bewildered.

Victor got to explaining, "From what I can tell, and so does Chairman Rose, you're doing really amazing! You told me yourself that your losses pale in comparison to your wins! But you don't really think that's enough. You continue working yourself to the bone and let a few losses or a bad day get to you."

He took the time to gently stroke Ariel, "I think you just set the standards for yourself too high, and Rose noticed this. So when he told you to rethink how high you  _ should _ be aiming for, I think he meant that you should stop trying to force yourself to keep up such a high and stressful standard, to stop working and batting  _ all _ the time. Relax a little, have fun, actually take some breaks from your gym battles and modeling! I know it's nice to work with what you love, but sometimes a lot of a good thing can be a bad thing, right?"

Nessa's eyes widened as Victor waved at some cheerful pokemon swimming past them.

"Like today! You laughed and had so much fun! Even if it did involve mercilessly chasing me around..." He awkwardly chuckled.

"Er, sorry about that, I got a little too into it..." Nessa interjected.

"But that's a good thing!" He said as he turned back to her, "It means you enjoyed yourself! So just relax like that from time to time and you'll be fine!"

Nessa looked down, thinking that what Victor said made sense to her. She hadn't ever taken off as much time for herself as she probably should've throughout her career. She was always vigilant and waiting in her stadium for new challengers (other than weekends), getting minimal sleep, and  _ always  _ keeping a tight schedule for modeling shoots and more.

She had never spent too much time with friends, in fact, she hadn't even been interacting that much with her fellow Gym Leaders to get to know them better. The only exception was Milo, who she considered a rival and fought against often. But Victor's right, too much of a good thing could sometimes be a bad thing, so maybe she should actually take time off everything and just spent more time with herself.

And all Rose had done was just offered friendly advice to her so she could balance her life better, so everything should be solved, right?

Not entirely, because Nessa couldn't help but feel some doubt. Doubt in herself, doubt in her abilities to keep up being both a Gym Leader and a model. Losing four times in a row would make a person question their own abilities, after all. Not to mention two years ago when everything seemed to be going wrong, so it was as if it was happening again. These thoughts still lingered in her, and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to be the best, but in what? She would either have to focus just on training harder and shaping up her skill if she wanted to be the best Gym Leader, or would have to work on her acting ability, public speaking, and more if she wanted to be the best model.

"What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing the frown on the young lady's face.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. It's just that... Well..." She sighed. "Can I really keep this up?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm... actually still wondering if I should quit one of my jobs..." She confessed, surprising Victor. "I'm thinking that I should focus on just being either a Gym Leader or a model..."

"You really think you have to choose?" Victor asked curiously.

Nessa nodded, "Yeah... But I don't know which one."

Victor frowned. He had thought that it was just the bad day Nessa had two years ago that was haunting her, causing her to keep up her overworked image without any breaks. Then her recent battles along with Rose's words had caused her to form doubt in herself. So Victor had assumed that clearing the misunderstanding of Rose, telling Nessa to lower her standards, and telling her to take time for herself would cheer her up and fix everything, but apparently, there was more to it.

He replayed their conversation quickly into his mind. He thought over it for a few seconds, wondering just what was having Nessa believe that she should quit a job. 

His eyes then brightened with a hint of realization,  _ "Wait... Is it that simple? Is THAT why?" _

"Okay... I think I got it." Victor said aloud.

Nessa felt rather depressed. "So... You're gonna say what you think I should quit?"

"Yup!" Victor answered confidentially, already having an answer and looking a bit too happy about it in Nessa's eyes.

"Then... which one?"

"Neither!" Victor immediately answered, shocking the Gym Leader behind him.

"Huh?" Nessa didn't expect that. "What are-?"

"You're a strong trainer, a beautiful woman, and a wonderful person!"

"Wh-What!? Where is this coming from!?" Nessa shouted, abruptly turning as red as a Magikarp.

"You always appear graceful in your battles and photos, anyone can tell that you genuinely care about pokemon and have strong bonds with them, and you're good at captivating everyone around you with your bright personality. Not to mention-"

"WAIT! Hold on! Stop!" Nessa suddenly grabbed the boy by his shoulders and shook him, feeling the steam come from her head due to the sudden compliments. "Wh-Why are you saying-!?"

"Because I know you're just being insecure about yourself!" Victor smiled innocently answered before she could finish. 

Nessa compeltely froze.

"The reason you're always striving to make yourself appear perfect, why you always push yourself without breaks, and why you're now thinking about quitting one of the jobs you love, it's all because you keep doubting yourself and your abilities! You don't think that you can be good as both a Gym Leader and as a model, so you're telling yourself that you can only choose one!"

The female's eyes widened, it was as if she realized this herself.

Victor reached over and pat Nessa's shoulder to comfort her. "You're thinking about quitting a job because you believe that if you just focus on one thing, then you'll do great and never fail at it. But you shouldn't have to choose something you love over the other." He turned back to Ariel, who actually seemed to be amused by listening to them. "Just take a look at Ariel! As a Milotic, isn't she a beautiful pokemon?"

"What does that have to do with-?"

"But's she's also really strong!" Victor continued as Ariel curiously leaned her head back to the speaking boy. "She doesn't choose to be beautiful or strong, she doesn't choose to either present her beauty or present her strength!!"

He turned to Nessa proudly.

"So you should be just like her! Don't worry about choosing to be beautiful or being strong, just  _ be _ both! After all, it's what you want, isn't it?"

Nessa suddenly saw her five-year-old self in a small, wooden boat within the lake.

_ "Nessa, don't get too close to the edge."  _ Her father had warned her as he relaxed on one side of the boat while the young Nessa stared into the water.

She remembered reaching her hand out to a small Feebas that had curiously swum up to her looking rather sad. This Feebas was Ariel several years ago, just a small pokemon who many considered to look unpleasant.

_ "You're all bruised up... Did they bully you?"  _ Nessa asked with a sad smile, gently rubbing the pokemon's injuries with her hand.

The pokemon just looked up, still looking troubled.

But Nessa looked pumped up and confident,  _ "You can't give up though! You should evolve and get back at them! Just get stronger and show everyone how pretty you can be!" _

The Feebas then smiled as she swam around in the water, even using a flipper to splash some water onto a laughing Nessa.

That memory faded and changed into another of when she was eleven, standing right beside a ten-year-old Sonia who excitedly stared up at a now evolved Ariel right in front of them in the water.

_ "A-Are you sure I can really catch her instead of you, Nessa!? I-I know I named her, but you know her better than I do!" _ The small ginger asked while bouncing in place from excitement.

The eleven-year-old Nessa laughed while the Milotic smiled,  _ "Don't worry about it, she's yours! I had a talk with Ariel and decided something... I'm gonna be just like her! I'm gonna be the prettiest and strongest trainer in Galar! But mom told me that rivals bring the best out of everyone, so that's why I want you to have her Sonia! No one can fight me better than my bestie, so I want the two of you to help get me stronger!" _

Small Nessa put her fist up with a bubbly smile.

_ "I'm gonna beat both of you and anyone else so that everyone pays attention to me! I'm gonna be the best at everything I want!" _

The present Nessa then recalled Sonia's words over the phone earlier.

* _ What do you mean? Just do what feels right to you. _ *

She blinked, finding herself looking down,  _ "What... I want? What feels right?" _

She thought about everything she had wanted in her childhood, everything she worked so hard for. To become the model she dreamed to be so that she could connect to both people and pokemon alike. But then she first got a job as a Gym Leader and ended up enjoying it, especially since it did the same thing she wanted to do as a model, to connect to people and pokemon. She had ended up wanting to keep both jobs, to have people's eyes on her and test the strength and bonds of those who challenge her.

Victor noticed her deep in thought, deciding to add on just a bit more.

"So just do what you've always been doing! You're already as strong and convicted  _ as _ you are beautiful! Everyone knows it, right, Ariel?"

The Milotic nodded and let out a sound that Victor guessed was a small giggle.

"So... What do you want to be, Nessa?" Victor asked once more.

The young adult didn't hesitate, raising her head to stare rather intensely at him. This allowed the boy to once again admire the blue eyes shining with the conviction that he had seen so many times on tv.

"I want to be the best Gym Leader  _ and _ the best model!"

"I'm sorry, what was that?" Victor cupped his ear and looked rather smug.

Nessa's eyebrow twitched and she could instantly tell what he was doing, making her frown. 

She reached forward and bonked him on the head, "You heard me."

Victor let out a whimper and wiped the spot Nessa hit, "Ow... Well..."

He looked up to her with a satisfied smile, "I'd love to see you do just that!".

Nessa turned away and crossed her arms with yet another blush. She felt a little frustrated and embarrassed, but it wasn't because of any other personal problems she had. Rather, she felt annoyed that a kid seemed to handle her situation more mature than she would've handled it herself. To think that she let out her problems to someone years younger than herself, but that boy ended up listening in to all of them so attentively and even knew exactly what to say to her.

And thanks to him, she felt like a load was off shoulders.

The corners of Nessa's mouth couldn't help but slowly form up as her eyes gleamed. She had been feeling so trapped for a day, trapped in making a decision about her future, a decision she didn't want to make but felt she had to if she wanted to be the best at something. But then this... 'young man' came out of nowhere and just spouted everything on his mind so innocently. Yet what he said made sense to her, from Rose's meaning behind his words, to the doubts she had in herself.

And all the compliments he gave her... From how he said everything without hesitation, she could tell that the boy meant all of it.

_ "I can believe I'm feeling happy to be praised by someone younger than me... I can't let this stand..." _ She pouted.

Nessa then had an idea to try to turn the tables to make Victor embarrassed, mischievously grinning as she scooted closer and had her head rather close to the boys.

"You really said a lot of nice things about me~" She giggled, "It's as if you've been watching me for  _ quite  _ a while now, haven't you?"

She expected him to get at least a little flustered, buuuuuut...

"As much as I could every Monday!" Victor boldly declared with sparkles in his eyes.

"Eh!?" Nessa turned comedically black and white, not knowing how to process this unexpected answer.

"I've noticed that on Mondays was always when you gave your best performance! So I always watched any kind of battles you have on those days! The way you twirl around and danced in sync with your pokemon, how your eyes shine blue as you fight, and how your movements flow naturally like the tides you represent! It's mesmerizing!" Victor was the one who moved his face closer to Nessa's to be only inches away now, yet he still had stars in his eyes and didn't look the slightest bit flustered.

Nessa had her mouth open with her pupils slightly shrinking.

_ "Geez, what's with this guy!? How can he say all those things with no shame whatsoever!?! Isn't he supposed to be at that age when boys get more conscious around girls!? I know he was kept at home for his life, but would it really do this much to him!?" _

Nessa felt awkward as she turned her head away and scratched her chin, "Do... Do you look at any of the other Gym Leaders?" She didn't know why this was the question she asked, but it was the one that came out.

"Well, I do look at each Gym Leader on a different day. Other than Piers..."

Victor frowned a bit as he thought about Piers not having his own channel for his gym battles.

_ "I might bring it up with Rose or Marnie later..." _

But he smiled again, "I've always watched how amazing you guys were. And it always made me excited, thinking about fighting all of you one day!"

Nessa twirled some of her hair with a finger, still facing away from Victor. "Um... Who's your favorite?"

"Don't got one." He answered with no hesitation. "I don't like favoriting one person over another, it's like acknowledging that I view someone as less or more important than another, I think everyone is special."

Nessa turned back to him rather surprised, his answer was just so...

_ "Weird."  _

She put a hand to her mouth and muffled a laugh. 

_ "He really is a weird kid." _

Victor just stared at her with a bigger smile forming from seeing the model laugh.

_ "But..." _

Nessa gazed into Victor's clear eyes, the corners of her mouth all the way up.

_ "I like that." _

Ariel smiled somewhat mischievously as she saw Nessa staring more deeply into Victor than she knew.

"Miss Nessa! Challenger Victor!" 

The trio turned their heads back to the yacht to see the crew waving at them.

"Whoops, I guess we should get back, we're pretty far from the boat." Victor chuckled.

He hung onto Ariel, turning to the pokemon and whispering to her.

"We'll talk later, alright?"

Ariel nodded, already having an idea of what they would talk about.

He then glanced back to the Gym Leader, "Hang on Nessa, we'll be back in a jiffy!" He said as Ariel got ready to burst forward.

Nessa smiled as she reached her arms around Victor's chest, embracing him.

"Victor?" She whispered.

"Yeah?"

Nessa pressed herself against him and rested her head on his shoulder with her eyes closed, slightly surprising the boy as his eyes turned to her.

"Thank you..."

Victor felt some pride hearing that.

* * *

** ~{Lake Of Outrage- 1:21 PM}~ **

Nessa and Victor were now back on board the yacht while the crew all excitedly conversed to them about how amazing they looked on top of that Milotic and how much good film and pictures they got from the event.

However, the model wasn't paying attention to them and was instead either absent in her own thoughts or peaking at the smiling boy sitting in beside her. She thought about meeting him just that morning, about how just how positively contagious he was, and about how he maturely handled her problem but still kept the goofy childish innocence he naturally emitted.

Nessa didn't have many friends to spend time with freely besides her bestie Sonia. This was because she was both a model and a Gym Leader, so she was busy most of the time and didn't have many instances to go out and meet new people. Not just that, but the people she  _ did _ know were the other Gym Leaders that she always found herself unable to freely have fun around due to their unique personalities or just being busy to even be with her.

She had the most fun around Sonia, the two of them would go about carefree during their Gym Challenge and enjoyed each other's company so much in the past. However, when Sonia suddenly dropped out of the challenge, Nessa at the time found herself alone. She didn't notice, but little by little she was having less fun and focused on getting stronger, doing this by working harder.

This had Nessa wonder something.

_ "Maybe that was when I started to work so hard? When I lost Sonia in the challenge? I didn't want to fail or drop out like her so... I guess I really was pushing myself because I didn't want that to happen." _

She concluded something else.

_ "Then... isn't that what I need to relax? Not time for myself, but time with someone? Someone I can have fun with but also understands me?" _

This kind of person had always been Sonia, but now they barely go anywhere together to due how busy the two of them were. Even now Nessa knew she couldn't just call Sonia because her bestie was off researching whatever new pokemon she was trying to find. 

The only other person who she's had fun with as much as her bestie was... the one she had met just hours ago.

Which was why she kept gazing at the boy.

Victor, in the meantime, happily answered and spoke to the crew about how amazing it felt to ride on top of the beautiful water pokemon, who was currently swimming by the side of the yacht back to shore. The crew liked him even more after leaving such an impression of a natural bond between him and pokemon like Nessa had. They were so into their conversation that they had forgotten all about lunch and had already gone back to shore.

By the time they arrived at the border of the lake, Victor and Nessa changed back into their usual clothes. The boy proudly put his gray beanie back on and equipped his backpack, where Tesla was sleeping in as usual. They got off the yacht via a ramp and saw a few Corviknights on Flying Taxis waiting for them.

When they all hopped on the soil, Victor immediately ran in the opposite direction of the taxis and towards Ariel, who had swum a good distance away along the shore so she and Victor wouldn't be in earshot.

"Challenger Victor, where are you going!?" The director called.

"Give me a moment!" The boy responded as he quickly ran.

His pokemon, besides Tesla who was in the backpack, all stood by the camera crew and watched their trainer rush over to the Milotic, already knowing what he was going to bring up.

"Ralts? Ralts?" Midori turned to Twilight.

"Corv, Corv." The bird told him, letting Victor handle this.

"Ah, I guess he's going to say goodbye." The female supervisor smiled. "You should too, Ms. Nessa."

Nessa was still twirling her hair rather embarrassingly while deep in her thoughts when she heard the supervisor, snapping her out of them. 

"Hm?" She turned her head left to see Victor just up ahead with Ariel, mumblings coming from them from being somewhat far.

The crew all packed their things into a few Flying Taxi's before waving to the water user.

"Miss Nessa! We're behind schedule so we'll be heading back to the studio to develop the film! We'll leave you and Challenger Victor with one Flying Taxi back!" The director smiled at her.

"Ah, thank you." Nessa said as she watched them start leaving.

At the same time, Victor was face to face with the pokemon in the water with a big smile. 

"I can understand you. Like  _ literally _ understand what you're saying."

This random news surprised Ariel, making her lean closer so her head was only a foot away from Victor, curious as to just  _ what _ this boy is. The trainer chuckled and took her head between his hands, gently caressing her as he spoke.

"I know, I know. Surprising, weird, rare, whatever you wanna call it. But right now I want to ask you something important, and I think you know what it is."

That made Ariel retract her head back while her eyes partially fell.

"Mi... lotic." She mumbled.

Victor reached closer to continue rubbing her. "Hey, do you know what Sonia asked me while we were talking about you guys?"

Ariel perked her head at him.

"She asked me if I thought all of you would ever forgive her... Not for sending you guys away, but for betraying your trust. She admitted to me that she didn't have enough faith in not just all of you, but in herself. And she's regretted that for so long, I saw it in her eyes, and I know you'll see it too when you meet her again."

Ariel sensed no lie in Victor's words, everything he said so far has been so genuine and with so much positivity that you just had to believe him. But even without him, Ariel knew her own trainer for many years. From meeting her with Nessa when the trainers were little, to taking on the Gym Challenge together, they were the closest of friends like any other trainer who loved their pokemon. 

And even after being released, she had always wanted to go back home,  _ her _ home.

Ariel closed her eyes and leaned forward, pressing her forehead against Victor's hand.

"Mi..." She answered.

Victor closed his eyes as the corners of his mouth went up all the way.

"Thank you... I promise to find your other two friends. So... let's make Sonia happy."

Nessa had arrived in earshot and heard just that last line, finding herself in astonishment as it seemed that Ariel had agreed to something.

"Wait... Did you convince her to come back to Sonia?"

"GAH!" Victor jumped back and turned to Nessa while flailing his arms, "U-Um, how long have you been there!?"

"Huh? I just got here." Nessa was taken aback by the rare flustered state the usually composed boy had, but she didn't even know why he even got into that state in the first place.

Victor let out a breath of relief that she didn't hear him understanding Ariel, then raising his head and putting his arms proudly onto his hips.

"Technically, I don't think I  _ convinced _ her! I think she's always wanted to go home! But now I just gave her an excuse! Heh heh!"

Ariel turned to Nessa with a visible smile, moving her head and rubbing it against the model's face.

"Mi, Mi." She cooed.

Nessa reached up and rubbed pokemon while still gazing at Victor.

"And you're still thinking of finding her other two pokemon?"

"Sure am! I got this!" He put an arm over his chest confidently.

Nessa formed a sad smile, letting Ariel go and walking close to Victor.

"So... are you gonna search now?"

The boy put a hand on his chin and looked up with his eyebrows furrowing.

"Well... I can't fight against you yet, so I think I might just go around exploring the Southern Wild Area again."

Hearing this reminded Nessa of the recent closing of her gym, making her flinch and feel a bit guilty that she was keeping Victor from continuing his challenge.

However, she just didn't feel like going back to her stadium yet. 

She had finally found someone who she believes she can have as much fun with as she did with her bestie. She had so much fun with Victor being lighthearted on the water, and she wanted to continue this. Victor was the one to suggest that she should enjoy herself and do what she wanted until she went back, so it should be okay, right?

_ "I can't believe I'm gonna ask this..." _

"Um... Victor?" She looked away while twirling some of her hair. "I'd be up to fight you..."

"Really!?" The boy was suddenly a few inches from her face, standing on his tippy toes excitedly with a gleam in his eyes.

Nessa stepped back and stiffened up with a light blush.

"Er... N-Not now though!!"

That made Victor tilt his head confusingly.

"You see, I don't really think I'm ready...  _ yet _ . I'm still feeling pretty stressed out, to be honest. And although you did tell me to find something to enjoy by myself... that's kind of hard. The most I've enjoyed my time was with a friend, and that was usually Sonia. But she's off doing her own thing right now, and I don't really have many other friends to enjoy myself with, so..." She looked away, feeling embarrassed in basically asking a kid to 'hang out.'

Victor looked down with a hand on his chin and seriously contemplated what the model was saying. 

He then snapped his fingers and rose his head with a look of realization.

"Oh! I see! So you wanna go on a date?"

"NO!!" Nessa bellowed immediately, comedically sending Victor flying while Ariel looked rather shocked. "I-I just wanted the two of us to go somewhere and have fun together!"

_ "Oh god, that sounds so cringy when I say it out loud!"  _ Nessa couldn't help but think.

Victor got back up from the ground, his beanie all crooked and maintaining a look of pure confusion, "B-But isn't that  _ exactly _ what a date is!? When a boy and girl go out somewhere to have fun and get to know each other better!?!"

Nessa had a completely blank look to her face.

_ "Wait, that's right. He's THAT type of innocent. That's why he's so unfazed around me, and is probably the same with any other girl." _

"Puh, puh, puh." Ariel giggled on the side, her tail covering her mouth to muffle herself.

Nessa's eye twitched when she heard Ariel, but she took a deep breath while closing her eyes.

_ "You know what? I'm thinking WAY too much into this, I'm just embarrassing myself at this point. So..." _

She formed a smile in the corner of her mouth.

_ "Screw it." _

Nessa opened her eyes back up with a new grin and crossed her arms, "You know what? Sure Victor, let's go out on a date!"

Ariel was quite surprised by the claim and turned to Victor, who had gotten up from the ground.

"..."

The boy clutched his own head in visible confusion. 

"But then  _ WHY _ did you yell at me!?!"

"No reason! Let's just go somewhere and have fun!" Nessa said with a wave as if to brush it off.

Victor had  _ several _ questions, but he decided to just go with it and cheered up. "Okay then! Just one thing first!" He turned to Ariel, "Do you live in this lake?"

Ariel nodded.

"Then I'll be sure to come back when I find the others! I don't want to keep you cooped up in a pokeball just to take you with me!"

"Can't you just take her back to Sonia now?" Nessa pointed out.

"Nah! I want it to be one big surprise reunion! So don't go telling her anything, Nessa!" Victor put a finger on his smile as a shushing motion.

Ariel once again rubbed her forehead against Victor while humming happily.

"I'll see you again Ariel! I promise!" The boy laughed while nuzzling his cheek against the pokemon.

Nessa walked over to Ariel and started to pet her, "Ariel... It was so good to see you again. You have no idea how happy I was to see you fly out of the water like you did so long ago. And now..."

She turned to Victor, "You have such a nice young man that's willing to go out of his way just to make someone smile."

Victor shone proudly, before then noticing some people missing on the shore. "Wait, where did everyone else go!?" He asked, catching sight of only his pokemon patiently waiting in the distance beside a lone Corviknight sleeping on a taxi.

"They went back to the studio, they're a little late on their schedule due to spending a lot of time here. So now it's just us."

"Oh, I guess we had fun for quite a while." Victor nodded in realization.

Ariel nudged him, "Miloitc. Mi, Mi..."

Victor listened intently as he heard Ariel warn him of Sonia's two other pokemon. With their stubborn personalities, they'll be  _ much _ harder to convince to go back and they may even have a grudge against their trainer.

_ "Hm... I'll have to be careful." _

"Anyway... Nessa! Let's go on that date!" He jumped with his arms sticking up in the air from excitement.

Nessa put a hand on her hip and grinned, "What do you want to do then?"

That made Victor pause and look up with a blank expression.

"Wait, what  _ do _ we do on a date?"

Nessa comedically fell to the ground.  _ "He got excited yet didn't even know what to do!?" _

"All mom ever told me about a date was to go out and have fun with a girl..." Victor said, looking down with a hand on his chin.

"Well... How about think of something you've been wanting to do? Something enjoyable with someone else?" Nessa suggested as she got back up.

Victor thought about it for a moment before his eyes lit up and he grinned.

"All right then! I have an idea!"

* * *

** ~{Hulbury Pokemon Center-1:59 PM}~ **

"Well... If I'm being honest, I didn't expect this." Nessa said with a look of confusion, yet interest.

After making a quick stop, Nessa had changed into her disguise as to not attract attention, the same gray baggy sweater, black cap with some of her hair stuffed in it, and tight jeans that she wore when she had met with Sonia on an earlier day. Although this time, she wasn't wearing any sunglasses due to being indoors. She and Victor were inside the pokemon center standing right in front of a Rotomi, the station where trainers could switch in and out their pokemon. 

But that wasn't why they were there.

Victor tapped away on the Rotomi station rather excitedly, the small Rotom infused device on the top smiling down at him.

"I've been meaning to make my League Card for a while but it kept slipping my mind!"

Nessa leaned forward over Victor's shoulder with both hands on her hips.

"But... I'm not sure what you're thinking about this being 'fun.'"

"Oh, this is why! Move your head back."

"Huh? What for-?"

*Snap!*

"Wha-!?" Nessa blinked as she saw the screen show a picture of her and Victor. However, Victor had taken the picture at such the perfect timing when Nessa moved that he got a rather funny face out of her.

"PFFT!! You look like a Musharna tried to put you to sleep but you were sneezing at the same time!"

"Hey! You little-!"

*Snap!*

"HAHAHA! Now you look like a Snubbul! Man, I love taking pictures at the perfect time, it's like pausing a video or movie and getting the funniest frame!"

"STOP THAT!" Nessa became a mixture of flustered and annoyed as she quickly moved Victor to the side and deleted the photos while the Rotomi above chuckled.

"Let's take some together this time!" Victor laughed, not disheartened at all to lose those pictures.

Nessa turned to Victor with a pout, "I'd better see something funny from you then! Otherwise, I'll wash you away!"

A pokemart staff sweatdropped, "Erm, I'm pretty sure the Rotomi isn't supposed to be used like that-"

"Shhhh! Let them have their fun!" The nurse of the Pokemon center shushed the man, watching the boy and woman with a warm smile.

From there, Nessa and Victor took many pictures together in any way they could think of. From making funny faces,  _ bizarre _ poses, and in the end, even winking while holding up peace signs the same way Nessa and Sonia did together.

They even dabbed, but deleted the picture after both cringing.

"I had  _ way _ more fun doing that than I thought I would." Nessa giggled.

"Yeah! And doing that reminded me of something I saw, so now I got an idea of how to make my League Card look!" Victor declared excitedly.

"Oh? I forgot that was why we're here." The model said, backing up and waiting excitingly for the boy to make his card.

"Alright, here I go!"

"..."

"..."

"Well? Aren't you gonna start?"

Victor awkwardly turned like a robot to face Nessa, revealing himself to be sweating nervously with a light blush. "E-Erm... Can you look away? I-It's embarrassing posing by myself..."

Nessa blinked as she thought about what he said.

She then burst out laughing, "PFFT!! Hahaha!!  _ That's _ what gets you embarrassed!?!"

"I-I don't like doing stuff like this  _ alone _ ! I-It's weird! Like you're at a party but you're the only one dancing!" Victor stammered with comedically water eyes as he waved his arms up and down.

_ "Oh god, he looks cute when he does that."  _ Nessa abruptly stopped laughing as she stared blankly with a blush at the boy.

She then smirked as she turned around, "Alright~ I can't wait to see what you've got in mind for your card."

"Th-Thank you..." Victor muttered behind her, setting the timer for the camera.

Nessa waited a few moments before she heard the *click* of the Rotomi again, then turning back to see Victor completely erase any previous embarrassment and looking rather happy now.

"What do you think!? I even added a background and decorations already!" He said as he pointed at the screen.

Nessa leaned forward and took a look.

In the photo, Victor was standing dramatically with his palms open in front of him and pointed upward. His legs were partially spread out and his knees were slightly bent, but what was most significant about the image was the domineering look on the boy's face. It had additional features such as a background of silhouettes of Dynamax pokemon behind Victor, a black frame around the top and bottom of the picture, the number  ** 658 ** in the bottom left corner, and  _ menacing _ purple symbols scattered around.

Nessa instantly burst out in laughter.

"HAHAHAHAHA!! What's with that pose!? *Wheeze!* Do you think you're in an anime or something!?" She held her stomach and continued laughing while Victor just chuckled with her.

"I saw Bede do it in the Galar Mines and thought it was kind of funny, but cool! He was all like, 'Oh? You're approaching me?' and made that pose!"

That just made Nessa laugh even more, "I can totally see him doing that! When I fought him he acted so mighty with that same look!!" Her eyes were leaking with tears by now as she pointed at the screen.

Victor felt slightly embarrassed at his picture but printed a few cards out regardless, then handing Nessa one of them.

"Here! You'll be the first to get a League Card from yours truly!"

"Haha, phew... *pant* thanks. *wheeze* Sorry, still recovering." Nessa chortled as she wiped the corner of her eye with one hand while receiving Victor's league card in the other.

"If everyone reacts the same way you did to my card, I might have to change it..." Victor sweatdropped with an awkward smile.

"No, no, it's alright." She said while still catching her breath. "I just really wasn't expecting it. Here, I'll give you my card too. Even signed!"

Nessa reached behind her and pulled out her League Card with a pen, signed the card with a grin, and handed it to Victor between two fingers.

Victor took her card and his eyes widened to see Nessa in her gym uniform with a leg straight up while about to pitch a pokeball.

"Wow, I forgot how flexible you are!" He said without much thought.

Nessa just looked proud, "Comes with all the swimming and yoga I do. But anyway, I think we're done here now that we've got you card, so where to now Victor?"

"Oh yeah! We should do something  _ you _ want to do this time!" Victor suggested.

"In that case..." Nessa smirked.

The pokemon nurse let out a pleasant sigh as she watched them.

"Ah, youth..."

* * *

** ~{Behind Hulbury Staduim}~ **

"This is really relaxing..." Victor sighed blissfully as he held his fishing rod in his hands.

"I know, right? I love fishing, especially in this spot! I love wondering what kind of pokemon I'll find in the water." The model responded with her own rod in her hands.

The two were sitting on a dock that was exactly behind the Hulbury stadium, a place Nessa had always gone in order to be alone. They both had fishing rods in the calm waters of the ocean and had soothing auras surrounding them.

"Do you usually keep the pokemon you catch?" Victor asked her curiously.

"No, I usually just release them back into the water after I take a look at them. I just like the sport of catching something and the thrill of guessing what it'll be."

"What kinds of pokemon have you caught on the line?" Victor tilted his head to her.

"So many different ones! From Wishiwashis, Arrokudas, to the plain old Magikarps." She declared.

"You think I'll reel in something you haven't yet?" 

"Hah! As if! I've caught the same pokemon here over and over again! If you caught something new, then I'd kiss ya!" She laughed.

"That confident? Aren't ya? I'll catch something new just to prove you wrong!"

"Heh, good luck with that!" Nessa snorted with a roll of her eyes.

"Watch me! I'll do it with this next catch!" Victor declared with a proud fist.

As if on cue, he felt a strong tug on his line.

"Whoa!!" He gripped his fishing rod tightly and shot up, firmly keeping his feet planted against the curbs of the while trying not to be pulled in.

"Oh? Looks like you caught a feisty one!" Nessa said as she pulled her own rod out and stood up to watch Victor. "Remember, tire it out the way I told you too! Then reel in, pull up, reel in, and pull up!"

"G-Got it!" Victor strained as he started performing these steps, tugging at his rod while Nessa couldn't help but feel excited.

"And if it starts to run, then let him run a bit before pulling again!"

"Hnngh!!" Victor groaned as he kept tugging and reeling in.

"Need me to help you?"

"I got it!!" Victor declared as he felt himself tugging the pokemon closer.

_ "He's got the strategy down and the pokemon aren't usually that hard to reel in, but why does he still seem to be having so much trouble?" _ Nessa wondered.

"I... I... GOT IT!!!"

With one last pull, Victor used his strength to yank a pokemon out of the water.

But both he and Nessa froze as a large shape eclipsed the afternoon sun above.

"Eh?" 

The two of them turned comedically black and white with agape mouths as they saw that out of all pokemon, a blue and white one had been pulled out of the water.

A Gyarados.

_ "WHAT THE HELL!?!"  _ Nessa screamed in her mind as she saw the pokemon glare down at the two as he reached the peak of his descent.

The Gyarados then started to fall menacingly down right at Nessa and Victor, clearly going to crash down on them and the wooden dock.

Despite this, one thing came to Victor's mind.

_ "HOLY HELL THIS FISHING ROD IS STRONG!" _

* * *

** ~{A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Erm... I'm really sorry about that..." Victor muttered as he followed Nessa through the streets of Hulbury, surprisingly neither of them wet.

"There, there. I'm not mad. I'm just glad we were able to run back inside quickly." Nessa awkwardly laughed as she glanced back and gently rubbed Victor's head with her hand.

"B-But, that was your favorite spot! And I end up getting it smashed!"

"It's alright, it'll be fixed, but quiet down, please. I don't want to attract attention..." The model calmed him as they walked together passed several people.

"A-Alright..." Victor muttered, still looking sad about what he did.

"Don't look so glum. More importantly..." Nessa suddenly stopped walking and grabbed both of Victor's cheeks, pulling his head up to look at her with excitement and inspiration in her eyes.

"You reeled in a Gyarados! A GYARADOS! I've never even seen that before!"

Seeing her shining happy, Victor felt his own mood brighten too, "Ha! I told you I'd reel in something you haven't got before!"

"But how did you even pull such a thing!? Was it your technique!? Your timing!?"

_ "IRK!" _ That made Victor flinch as he realized that he had indeed demonstrated something abnormal.

He raised a finger and thought quickly. "I-I was pulling hard, b-but I don't think I pulled him... her? Er,  _ it  _ out! That Gyarados might've gotten mad and leaped out of the water itself, it went too high for it to be because of me just yanking it out."

"Still! It's amazing that  _ you _ weren't pulled into the water!" She let go of his cheeks and backed up, "We should go fishing somewhere else next time!"

_ "Next time? Heh."  _ Victor smiled, "I'll look forward to it!"

** *Growl!* **

"..."

Victor slowly looked down at himself with a dead-looking gaze.

** *Growl!* **

Nessa put a hand on her mouth and started to muffle a laugh.

** *GROOOOOWL!!!* **

Nessa was the one to freeze in black and white this time, her muffled laughter abruptly stopping.

Victor rose his head up after hearing that even  _ louder _ rumbling coming from the model.

He stared at her with a blank face.

She stared at him while turning red.

"..."

"Heh." Victor formed a smug grin.

"D-Don't look at me like that!! Your stomach rumbled too, you know!?!" Nessa pointed at him while comedically sweating.

"Well, I guess we never did eat because of Ariel coming out of nowhere." Victor chuckled, enjoying to see the woman embarrassed. "So... Want to eat then? I can make some great curry!"

That made Nessa start thinking before slowly forming a smile, "Actually, I think I want to take you somewhere."

* * *

** ~{Boat Restaurant- 3:05PM}~ **

"Wow! I didn't know they had something like this in Hulbury!" Victor said with sparkling eyes.

"This place is what I consider to be a hidden gem for my town." Nessa smiled.

She and Victor were sitting right next to each other in a restaurant that was within a large boat just off into the waters of Hulbury. Nessa showed Victor the place by having the two of them arrive on the boat via another Flying Taxi, surprising the boy. The restaurant had dark red carpet flooring, beautifully painted blue walls, several chandeliers scattered around the place, and had circular booths with a table in each of them, where the two of them were sitting together.

"Most of Hulbury's restaurants are mostly about seafood, but this place has quite a variety of different dishes."

Victor stared at the menu in complete awe while the rest of his pokemon rested in the remaining space of the booth. 

"So many things to choose! What should I get!? Wait, do I even have enough to afford anything?"

"Don't worry about that, let me treat you." Nessa waved it off.

"I promise to pay you back later!" Victor said with a salute to her.

That made Nessa giggle, "Don't worry about it Victor, I make a lot from my jobs. And think of this as me paying  _ you _ back."

He tilted his head, "Eh? For what?"

She leaned against Victor's shoulder with a sweet smile.

"Just for... talking to me. For taking the time to go with me to my modeling session just so you could cheer me up. You listened to all my problems and gave some nice advice and compliments. You... really made me feel better about myself."

She closed her eyes and rest her head against him.

"Thanks..."

Victor blinked as he could feel how happy Nessa was now. He didn't feel any tension from her, he felt her soft breathing, and he could see the blissful smile on her face as she just relaxed and enjoyed his company, the company of a friend.

He just innocently rested his head onto Nessa's while using a hand to gently rub her head.

"I'm just glad you're happy, Nessa. If you ever need me something, or just want me around, I'll be here for you."

Nessa chuckled,  _ "There he goes saying things like that without much thought..." _

But she opened her eyes and they flashed blue as she formed a mischievous smirk, "But in  _ that _ case-!"

Victor was caught off guard as Nessa reached an arm over his shoulder and held him close to her.

"I expect you to keep your word and go on a date with me  _ anytime _ I call you! If you don't, then I'll come over and blast you away with more power than a Hydro Pump!" She laughed.

"Heh, heh, then I'd better make sure my schedule is mostly open." Victor chuckled back, already adjusting to being casually hugged like an old friend from the older female.

"You'd better! But for now, let's order as much as you guys want!"

All of a sudden, each of Victor's pokemon had their eyes flash in interest, even Ace who opened just one of them.

_ "Oh boy..."  _ Victor sighed as he noticed them.

* * *

** ~{Several Minutes Later}~ **

"Er... Can you guys be a little more... composed?" Victor sweatdropped.

He and Nessa watched as his pokemon basically ravaged through their plates of food rather... disturbingly. But when Victor pointed them out, they abruptly stopped and blinked.

"I know we haven't eaten anything since yesterday, but please don't go crazy. Especially since we're in a public place..."

His pokemon glanced around at a few people eyeing them, then sitting backing down and eating more slowly than before.

Surprisingly, Tesla was the most composed of the group as he ate, visibly savoring each bite he took from the mountain of food on the table. He went from spot to spot, sniffing around and being attracted to different kinds of meals.

_ "Does he have a good nose?" _ Nessa wondered as she put a spoonful of soup in her mouth.

She then turned to Victor who was moaning in enjoyment as he ate, "This isn't as good as what Gloria or Sonia can make, but damn it's still great!"

"Heh, would you prefer cooking from one of them more over the other? Maybe you want... 'more' from them?" Nessa hinted.

"I'm just happy to eat a girl's cooking on several occasions! Mom says it's the best because it's usually filled with lots of love! And I completely agree!" Victor squealed, completely missing the second part of her question.

That just made Nessa laugh as she put an arm around Victor once again, "Maybe I should cook for you sometime! I can make a mad seafood delight!"

"I'd love to try it!" Victor immediately answered while panting excitedly.

"Heh! I'll hold ya to it then! Maybe right after our-!" Nessa paused as she was reminded of Victor's Gym Challenge.

She looked down as her smile slowly faded,  _ "That's right... There's only so much time for the Gym Challenge, after all... Aren't I just wasting his time? Taking advantage of how nice he is for my own personal enjoyment?" _

"What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing the look of conflict on Nessa's face.

Nessa turned to him looking rather unsure, "Hey, Victor? When... When do you want to take on my gym?"

She expected him to say something like 'as soon as I can' or 'right now' but...

Victor just cheerfully went back to his food as he head, "Whenever you feel like you're ready."

Nessa was surprised by that answer, but then realized she really shouldn't be. Despite meeting Victor just for a day, she spent enough time with him to know what kind of person he is. He's completely selfless, always thinking about others more than himself, so of course he'd patiently wait for her to be ready. He might even wait a month for her if all she did was ask.

She instinctively whacked him on the head.

"Eh!? What was that for!?" Victor comedically cried as he let go of his spoon and clutched the smacked spot with both hands.

"One of these days, someone is really gonna take advantage of how kind and naive you are, you know that, right?" Nessa said with an annoyed look.

His pokemon, besides Tesla, all nodded in agreement.

_ "You guys..."  _ Victor's eyebrow twitched.

He pouted, "Look, I may be called an idiot, but I'm not stupid!"

"Jiiiiiiii..." The group all stared.

"Hold on... I get the feeling I said something wrong." Victor said as he put a hand on his chin in thought.

He then shook his head, "Okay, whatever! The point I was going for is that I'll be fine! I can understand people pretty well based on what Mom taught me! She prepared me so that, in her words, 'I won't be tricked by any suspicious people asking if I want to have a good time!'"

Ace and Twilight narrowed their eyes suspiciously while Midori looked confused, but Nessa had a comedic look horror on her face.

_ "She didn't really think 'those' kinds of people would go for a kid, would they!?!" _

She then sighed while rubbing her eyes. "Well, your mother had the right intentions at least... I can't fault her for that."

"Yeah! I'm glad mom tied me to a chair to teach me all that!"

_ "Now he's spouting some scary stuff." _ Nessa sweatdropped.

"After all... Thank to her, I'm able to understand people easier and help them!" He playfully pushed himself against Nessa with a grin, "Just like you!"

"Oi! Don't act like you know me completely you brat!" Nessa used an arm to hold Victor's head while she used the other to pull off his bean and give him a noogie.

"Hey! Th-That hurts!"

"That's the point!" Nessa laughed as Ace rolled his eyes.

When she let go of the boy, she stared rather satisfied at him. So many things happened to her in such a short time. Feeling defeats several times since yesterday and then hearing what Chairman Rose said, Nessa had been lost. Then this kid, no... this 'young man' came to her out of nowhere acting so innocent, yet was still able to somehow understand her so fast. He told her everything that she didn't realize she wanted to hear, just that she can do both of what she loved.

Nessa sweetly smiled and closed her eyes, unconsciously hugging Victor tightly against her chest while caressing his head.

Victor was shocked as his face pressed against the softness of the perfect model's chest, his eyes widened while his pokemon all turned black and white with agape mouths.

"Charja?" Telsa turned from his food and saw what the others were looking at.

"..."

He shrugged and got back to eating.

Victor, in the meantime, just closed his eyes and smiled.

_ "She's so warm... And soft..." _

But then his eyes shot open as his smile tensed up.

_ "Wait, isn't this bad!? _ _ No, it should only be bad if I'm having weird thoughts about it! So in that case..." _

He closed his eyes again.

_ "AMNESIA!" _

Sure enough, he temporarily emptied his mind and forgot everything, allowing him to relax right there without a problem.

_ "There we go, now I don't have to worry..."  _ He thought in relief.

Only to open his eyes with a puzzled look and question mark over his head.

_ "Wait, what was I worried about?" _

Nessa then pulled Victor off of her and brought his head to face her directly with a newfound fire in her eyes as she said;

"Victor! Let's battle!"

That had Victor instantly regain his forgotten thoughts, then making the most excited and adorable squeal a human can make.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-Galar Mines N.2}~ **

"Something is tingling." 

Gloria had an emotionless expression as her body tensed up, the girl standing deep within the second of Galar's mines with all of her current pokemon out.

There was Bubbles, who had at this point evolved into a Drizzile that made her turn from a crybaby into a serious pokemon.

Bolt was still a happy little Yamper that ran all around his trainer, barking.

Ziggy, who at this point evolved into a jumpy Linoone, playfully chased Yamper around.

Plush, who was still a cute little Stufful that was as strong as he was fluffy.

And finally, Luna, who had remained cheerful for the entire trip ever since evolving, yet still remained in her trainer's backpack.

But when they noticed their trainer suddenly stiffen up, they stopped and gazed at her.

"I don't like this feeling... The last time I felt this was when Victor asked me to go into town to buy a gift a girl would like... I was stiff the entire time until I learned it was just for his mum."

Luna curiously tilted her head. "Kirl? Kirlia?"

"So it can only mean one thing..." 

Gloria's eyes suddenly burst into flames that seemed to somehow brighten the dim caves they in.

"SOME FOOKIN  _ BAMPOP  _ MIST BE GETTIN' A WEE  _ TAE  _ CLOSE TAE MAH MAN!" 

Her scream echoed in the cave, frightening all the pokemon in the area to hide.

"D-Drizzile!?" Bubbles and the rest of Gloria's pokemon were quite alarmed by this roar, shivering in place while swearing that Gloria erupted into comedic flames.

Bede was finding Wishing Stars in the same mines, but instinctively hid behind a boulder with his purple eyes widened to the max. He had heard someone coming from one path of the mines and had gone over to check it out, but then he heard the murderous roar of Gloria, scaring him out of his mind.

His platinum blonde hair reflected some light as he gulped nervously. 

"D-Definitely not going that way."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Walks down a mineshaft while avoiding webs)
> 
> OHO? What's this? Our boy is finally gonna have his gym battle against the master of the waves!? About time! Ooooh boy! I can't wait to see Tesla in action! And ah, I just do enjoy me a good old fashion date, just going out doing whatever feels right. To be we can't really have any in the world right now... DAMN YOU CORONAAAA! *Ahem* Anyway, next time on Galar's Secret Miracle! A conclusion to Victor and Nessa's time together, a conclusive battle in which the model feels like a new person! And who will be watching their battle, exactly? Stay tuned! Now its time for me to get these diamonds back and log off for the night!
> 
> (Hears menacing hissing behind him)
> 
> Ah... Well Shi-
> 
> *BOOM!*
> 
> ~{Pikaboo73- July 24, 2020}~


	15. The Power Of The Waves

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Walks around in a mansion with a vacuum on.)
> 
> Aha! You'd thought I die from that explosion, but ghost types are immune to that! So now we're back! After several chapters, we're finally going to get into the second gym battle for our hero! But before that... I wanna take a moment to talk about Pokemon Twilight Wings. I just saw the latest and last episode today relating to Leon, and I have to say (SPOILERS)... It was the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. I had an emotional rollercoaster and actually freaking cried. From seeing the beautiful views the episode provided, to the absolutely amazing animation for that last battle with Leon and Raihan... It honestly makes me so happy to see something like that, but also makes me kinda sad in that I wish more of this kind of anime would be made rather than an anime about a child that doesn't age or evolve his pokemon. And then when I saw both Gloria and Victor at the end, I freaking squealed man. I loved how they both sounded even if they both only had one line, lol.
> 
> But yeah, this makes me more pumped up than ever to try and create something that can be just as amazing as the anime. I could only hope to write out events so well that you, the audience, can picture them, which I know will be a challenge for me and my limited vocabulary. Writing out future battles to be detailed and amazing (Although I guess the early battles aren't meant to be that detailed or super outstanding), writing down character development and relationship building, and hoping to add on to the original pokemon game's story the best way I can. I could only hope I accomplish that in the long run.
> 
> So I wanted to say that, and thanks to everyone who has continued to join me on this journey of writing. I will continue writing to make this fic as amazing as it can be. And I hope of all you guys show your support and leave longish comments that really show me what I'm doing right and what I should work on. Thank you everyone for reading.
> 
> But now it's time to get back to the story! How will Victor fare against Nessa and the flow of her water type pokemon?
> 
> (Opens room and shines flashlight in it)
> 
> And how will things end between the two? Will Victor get his second gym badge?
> 
> (Hears laughing and flashes light, stunning two ghosts before activating vacuum.)
> 
> Let's find out now!
> 
> (Pulls ghosts and slams them on the ground.)
> 
> YA-HOO!
> 
> ~{Pikaboo- August 9, 2020}~

**~{Postwick- 3:34 PM}~**

"Thank you for getting these for me. I don't think we'll have to go out for a while now." Victor's mother said as Greninja placed two bags of groceries and ingredients on the table.

"Gre, Ninja." The pokemon said, going to the window and carefully peaking outside, taking a look if anyone was watching.

Rookidees, Skwovets, and many other pokemon were in the house, happily enjoying each other's company. Many of them came to wait for Victor's battle to come up, wishing to watch and cheer on the boy who had always helped them in the forest.

Victor's mother walked over to three more serious-looking Rookidees standing proudly on the table.

"So did you guys see anyone suspicious-looking around the area?"

All three shook their heads, indicating they saw no one.

She then turned back to Greninja, "And you took everything without anyone following you?"

"Ninja." The pokemon nodded, obviously knowing how to sneak his way around.

"Phew..." The woman sat on a seat and wiped her head. "Can never be too careful... Ever since the announcers said Victor was from Postwick, I knew 'they' would be looking here..."

She glanced at Greninja with a worried look, "We have to make sure they don't pinpoint our exact location... Otherwise, we'll be in so much danger. Did you find any more Team Rocket members looking in the forest?"

Greninja seemed to sigh as he nodded.

"And you took them to the authorities?"

He nodded once again, reaching for a cup of coffee on the table and taking a sip.

Victor's mother raised an eyebrow, "Should you really be drinking coffee?"

Greninja paused for a moment, looking down from his drink then to the woman.

"..." He then just shrugged before continuing to drink.

The woman sweatdropped. "Okay then..."

She then turned to the refrigerator she had, which contained a picture of her and Victor smiling together in their small garden.

"My precious baby... I hope you stay safe..."

* * *

**~{Meanwhile- Flying Taxi}~**

"I'm so excited!" Victor said, being rather bouncy in his seat.

"Wow, you really are looking forward to battling me, aren't you?" Nessa giggled right beside him. The Gym Leader and Gym Challenger were already flying back to the Hulbury Stadium, the afternoon sun still blazing a good height above the horizon.

"Of course I am! I'm always fired up for a pokemon battle! But I've always wanted to battle you and the other Gym Leaders!"

"Heh, well I hope you're ready for a tough battle! If you aren't careful, then you'll be swept away by the waves of my pokemon." Nessa grinned as she casually rested her elbow on Victor's shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know I'll beat you!"

Nessa just laughed and took off her shades, "Cocky, aren't ya?"

"I prefer the term... 'confident.'" Victor responded cheerfully.

"Heh, well I can't say that's a bad thing, I just hope you can back it up. I've been really worried about taking you on, you know? I'll feel pretty stupid if you get easily washed away."

"Heh, on the contrary, I think you'll be a bit overwhelmed." Victor retorted.

"We'll see about that, because we're already back!" Nessa stated.

Victor turned to the window and saw the giant Stadium of Hulbury in view. He smiled as he thought about finally continuing on with his Gym Challenge, but was more excited about going up against the water type user to battle her firsthand.

But he immediately saw something that would slow him down.

In front of Hulbury Stadium was a line of people that were waiting for the Gym Leader to come back. Despite having been told that the Gym Leader closed down the gym for who knows how long, many challengers had still decided to wait. After all, Nessa's gym was only the second gym of the challenge, so she really couldn't be out too long without too many complaints coming in.

"Whelp, guess I'm waiting a bit longer." Victor sighed as he stared at the large amount of trainers waiting in front of the stadium.

Nessa raised an eyebrow before taking a look at where Victor was staring at, making her narrow her eyes. "Oh... I forgot about all the others."

_"Ain't that a bad thing?"_ Victor wondered with a blank look.

"Oh god, and some of them are the creepy ones..." Nessa's eye twitched.

Victor looked closer to what she meant, and saw several male trainers in the line wearing all sorts of Nessa merchandise and... more. One of them even had his shirt off with Nessa's face painted on his belly.

Victor and Nessa both felt shivers in their spine as they stared with blank expressions.

"Oh... I didn't think there were people like that here..." Victor mumbled.

"There are _always_ people like that." Nessa told him.

"Good to know."

After a brief pause, Nessa smirked and nudged Victor, "You know? I _could_ just ease you into the front of the line."

"Thanks but... I'll wait. I'd feel bad if I cut in front of everyone."

"Wha- You know how long battling all those people will take!?" Nessa pointed in disbelief.

"Heh, you're strong! If your gym mission isn't that hard and people get to you quickly, then I'm sure you'll make waiting feel like a breeze!"

"In that case-" Nessa cracked her knuckles as she formed an evil grin, "It's time for me to wash away all these stains!"

_"Stains?"_ Victor deadpanned.

* * *

**~{Front of Hulbury Stadium- 4:56 PM}~**

**"Th-The victor is Gym Leader Nessa once again! With a winning streak of... t-twenty-five now!?!"**

_"Oooooooooh boy."_ Victor stared blankly down into his phone, watching several of Nessa's battles in a row. The moment the Gym Leader had returned to her stadium and commenced her first match back, everyone could clearly see that there was something different about her.

Then for over an hour, Nessa fought challenger after challenger with a new glow to her. Throughout every battle, the water user maintained a smile on her face even when the situation looked grim, ending up coming out as the victor each time. Everyone could just tell that she was different from before, but they didn't know why.

Not to mention, she did look somewhat scary just mowing down waves upon waves of challengers.

_"Shouldn't she take a break?"_ Victor wondered as he stepped forward in the line.

He put his phone away and slipped off his backpack, reaching in and pulling out a sleeping Telsa.

"Zzz... Charja, Charja, Charja..." The pokemon cooed.

Victor held him with one arm and used his free hand to gently rub the top of his head, easing him slowly into waking up.

"Char..." Soon, Tesla's sleep bubble popped and he let out a small yawn while stretching his body, making musical sounds as he did so. He then blinked several times and glanced up at Victor. 

"Charja?"

"Heya buddy!" His trainer said, "Are you ready to take on your first gym?"

Tesla blinked confusingly before Victor held him up with both hands and showed him the Hulbury Stadium in front of them.

"It's time for you to finally shine!"

"..." 

Tesla let out a sigh. "Char..."

"Oh come on now, I've fed you pretty good and I was even considerate to let you sleep as much as you wanted. Not to mention..."

Cross-veins emerged on his head, "You still have to pay me back for _all_ those berries you ate without my permission."

Tesla made a small whine as if asking if he had to.

"Do you want to stay? Because sorry, but I'm not gonna keep you around just to feed you while you do nothing at all..." Victor pouted.

Tesla sighed in defeat, "Charja..."

"Great! You'll be amazing! I know it!" Victor hugged him in his arms.

His other three pokemon were standing beside him, staring at Tesla while looking rather unsure about the pokemon Victor had chosen to work with them. They then looked around at the other trainers that were staring at them and their trainer. After all, they were the pokemon team for one of the challengers endorsed by the champion.

Ace glanced up at Victor while nudging his leg, "Raboot, Raboot?"

Victor came to a realization from Ace, "Oh yeah... I could only keep one of you out at a time for the challenge." He glanced at Tesla, who tilted his head. "Ah, I haven't even caught you in a pokeball yet!"

Ace crossed his arms and rolled his eyes that his trainer forgot something so simple.

Victor put Tesla down and dug into his backpack, "I've put my pokeballs in the back since I don't really use them, so give me a second."

He dug through it for a few seconds before halting as he came upon a familiar special pokeball, the green and white one with dark orange spots and one yellow spot.

_"The Friend Ball I got from Ball Guy?"_

Victor recalled the mascot's words about this special pokeball as he pulled it out and examined it.

_"This here is a Friend Ball! It's a pokeball that acts as a physical symbol of friendship between pokemon and humans! If you catch a pokemon in it, sometimes they'll realize that they'll be treated more special than other pokemon and will want to become your friend easier!"_

He smiled as he gripped onto the ball and turned back to Tesla, who noticed the different colors than a usual pokeball.

"Charja?" 

"This here isn't just any pokeball, Tesla. This is a Friend Ball that I got from a friend of mine." Victor moved it closer to the bug pokemon so he could take a better look at it. "It's like a symbol of friendship between trainers and their pokemon. If a trainer wants to use it, then it shows that they really want to be really close friends with a pokemon." 

Hearing that, Tesla glanced up at Victor with a new curiosity.

"Bug? Charja?"

Victor chuckled, "I don't want this relationship to just be a deal or some sort of mutual exchange. I want us to be really good friends that can take on anyone who challenges us."

He reached his free hand to Tesla and pat him on the head.

"Don't you want that too?"

Tesla stared at the ball within the trainer's hand, thinking about the word 'friend' and wondering how that would be like. He only really wanted to do two things in life; eat and sleep. Digging into the ground had helped him satisfy both of these things because he could sleep in a hidden area and use the same area to eat food in the form of the humus of the soil or certain leaves from trees. He had never interacted with other pokemon before because all he's ever thought about was surviving on his own. But now he had the potential to get all kinds of new experiences, from food, traveling, and people/pokemon.

He did a simple shrug as if saying, 'screw it' and stretched his accordion-like body forward so his forehead touched the switch if the Friend Ball, then immediately getting absorbed into it.

The corners of Victor's mouth went up all the as he watched the ball shake three times before clicking close.

He quickly reached down and released Tesla back onto the ground.

"Charja." The pokemon nodded up to him.

"Thank you Tesla! We'll be the best of friends!" Victor shouted as he scooped the battery pokemon off the ground and hugged him.

Tesla just let out a tired yawn and snuggled in Victor's arms.

"Next please!"

Victor looked ahead and saw that he was in front of the stadium doors now with a league staff member waiting by the door.

"Oh! Come on, guys!" Victor said in excitement.

His pokemon nodded as they walked with him, well in Twilight's case, flew with him inside the stadium while Tesla started sleeping once more in his trainer's arms.

Victor walked into the stadium lobby that looked nearly identical as the last one he had been in, but with a blue theme this time, of course. He saw a few other challengers in their white uniforms already and were waiting to be called next to take on the Hulbury Gym Challenge.

"We have a lot of people waiting, so for now, please return your pokemon into their pokeballs and head into the locker rooms to change into your uniform. We'll fill in your Gym Challenger information before you start the challenge." The league staff told him.

"Alrighty." Victor looked down at his pokemon with a small nod, to which they nodded back in understanding before he returned each of them back into their pokeballs.

The challengers in the room recognized Victor already as one endorsed by Leon, having them curiously stare at him as he adjusted the straps of his backpack.

But Victor didn't acknowledge the stares and instead focused on the uplifting mascot that caught sight of him as well.

"Oh! Ball Guy!!"

The cheerful being jumped side to side with jazz hands.

"Good to see you once again my friend! How did that Friend Ball work out for you?" He asked, reminding Victor of their previous meeting.

"I actually just used it!" The trainer pulled out his Friend Ball and released a sleeping Charjabug onto the floor, "This little fella is Tesla! I showed him that I really wanted to be friends with him, you're pokeball helped with that!"

That made Ball Guy seem delighted, "Ooo! Amazing use of it! I knew you'd put that pokeball to good use!" He clapped his hands to congratulate the boy.

He then started tap dancing, "Thanks for using it well and for rolling by, to have a chat with your mate- the Ball Guy!"

He then spun in place clockwise and then spun counter-clockwise before stopping, "Tell me, do you have a fishing rod?" 

"Yeah, I do. It's... pretty strong." Victor answered with a blank stare, remembering the rod having enough strength to keep itself intact even when yanking out a Gyarados from the water.

Ball Guy then reached behind into his pocket, "In that case, I've got the perfect pokeball for you!" He pulled out a pokeball with a blue top but with a red area going up the middle along with three vertical lines within the red.

"Ooo! Pretty!" Victor smiled as he returned Tesla back into his Friend Ball and examined the new kind of pokeball the mysterious person presented him.

"This here is a Lure Ball! It's the absolute best for people that like pokemon that live underwater!"

Victor felt his smile go all the way up as he thought about a certain Tender pokemon he promised to come back for once he found her other two friends.

_"Might as well give Sonia a pretty pokeball to go with it."_

He glanced back up at Ball Guy as he received the special pokeball into his hand.

"Thanks Ball Guy! I know exactly who to use this for!"

"Good to hear it! Good luck with your battle against Nessa! She's been crazy strong right now compared to yesterday. I wonder what happened? Either way, do your best!" He said as he tap-danced before striking a pose that gave Victor jazz hands.

"Thanks, Ball Guy!" Victor laughed as he hurried passed by the pokeball-headed man and went towards the locker room.

_"He really knows him?"_ Wondered nearly all the contestants that had watched the exchange between Victor and the man they considered to be 'weird.'

After a few minutes, our hero came out of the room wearing his white gym uniform with the proud number **658** on his back.

"Looking good!" Ball Guy gave him a thumbs up.

Victor smiled and waved to him before going into the small line in front of the doors leading into the challenge.

* * *

**~{A Few Minutes Later}~**

"Good luck Gym Challenger." The female, water-themed staff wearing a similar outfit as Nessa bowed to Victor, then walking aside to let the boy through.

"Thank you!" Victor confidently walked up to the two automatic doors and they slid open for him, revealing a small hallway. He walked down the hall until he came upon a circular door with the water badge design on it, the door opening up to present a tremendous sight to the trainer's eyes.

He saw an entirely blue room the same size as the green room from the Turffield challenge. Platforms were raised above a large pool of water that covered the entire floor below, and there were pipes that went all across the ceiling and pointed down in different areas. The pipes had red, yellow, or blue openings over certain sections of the platforms, there were switches of these same colors scattered around the area, and there were a few trainers waiting in certain parts of the room.

"Ooo! It's like a water park!! So cool!" Victor exclaimed with beaming eyes.

He came upon the black and white wearing referee waiting for him. When Victor got close, the blonde man pointed a hand at the area of pipes.

"The Hulbury Pokemon Gym's mission is this! A challenging maze! And you must reach the goal to clear the mission! However, some paths in the maze are blocked by pouring water! What should you do then?"

"Press buttons!" Victor bounced as he pointed at the different colored switches in the distance.

"Smart boy!" The referee jokingly laughed. "Yes, press the buttons and see what happens! Make a path for yourself to get through the room! Remember that you can only have out one pokemon out at a time, good luck!" He stepped back and gave a salute to Victor.

"Thank you!" Victor pulled out a pokeball and clicked it open, sending out his first pokemon to accompany him.

"You ready, Midori? Let's see if we can get you to evolve!"

The psychic and fairy typed looked pumped up as he tried flexing both of his tiny arms while puffing up his mouth, trying to looking tougher.

_"He's so precious."_ Victor comedically cried with tears of joy.

He then turned to the challenge in front of him with a grin.

"Letsa go!"

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-Motostoke}~**

Gloria's eye twitched as she came back into the industrial city of Motostoke via the east entrance, coming out of the Galar Mines No.2.

Luna gently rubbed the girl's head from her backpack nervously, attempting to calm her trainer's bad thoughts over a certain boy.

Gloria marched down the street with her hands tightened into fists, a scowl on her face as she growled out words. Many passersby shivered from the menacing black aura the girl had around her, quickly creating distance between them and her.

"Th' moment he gets 'ere, th' moment ah see him, a'm gonnae fin' oot whit hackit he's bin hingin aroond..."

Luna sweatdropped as she heard her trainer's accent slip out, indicating just how pissed off she was. But despite this, she still continued rubbing Gloria's head in an attempt to calm her.

The female trainer found herself in front of the Motostoke Stadium now, gazing up at the large, brick building.

She frowned, thinking about taking on the Fire-Type Gym Leader.

"Not right now... Otherwise, I might end up fighting him with more than just my pokemon..."

Luna had a blank expression as she processed what the girl just said.

"I'm gonna head to the Wild Area and blow off some steam..." The girl grumbled as she started marching off.

It didn't take long for her to make it just to the entrance of the industrial town, going down the stairs and gazing at the sight of the wild ahead.

And the sight of a boy running towards her.

"HEY GLORIAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Gloria stopped and focused her eyes, noticing the familiar over-energetic boy running with a laugh. Luna peaked out more from her backpack and smiled happily when she saw one of Gloria's friends coming to them.

But Gloria's anger and Luna's happiness turned into pure shock as they saw Hop running towards them looking more beat up than they've ever seen him before. He had dirt stains all over his clothes, some of his clothes were torn, and he had some visible bruises on some parts of his body.

Despite this, the boy just continued laughing as he ran towards his friend while waving his hand.

"Hop!? What the bloody hell happened to ya!?!" Gloria rushed down the steps and met up with the boy.

"It was great! I lost to Victor in a pokemon battle while you were getting your water badge, then he suggested I train my pokemon with a friend of his! That Onix we ran into in the Rolling Fields, remember?" The boy grinned.

"WHAT!?! THAT THING!?! ARE YA CRAZY!?!" Gloria shouted as she grabbed him by the collar.

"Heh, apparently! I even tried to see if I could join my pokemon in fighting, but... it didn't go well." Hop awkwardly laughed.

Gloria had a deadpanned expression.

"You're a complete idiot."

"I prefer the term, 'special.'" Hop grinned in return.

Gloria let go of him and rubbed her eyes in frustration.

"You and Victor drive me SO crazy..."

"Hey, I might drive you crazy, but Victor drives your _heart_ even crazier~" Hop teased with a smug grin.

Gloria's eyes flashed red and she cocked her fist back with flames igniting around it.

"FALCON-!!"

She swung it forward as the flames turned into the shape of a certain large bird.

"-PUNCH!!"

Her blow connected right in Hop's face, sending him flying back in a spiral until he crashed into a tree.

"GAK!!!" His back bounced against the trunk and he landed face-first onto the ground, his body twitching in comedic pain.

At the same time, Gloria stood ahead of him with a pout on her now completely red, embarrassed face.

"D-Don't say stuff like that, ya moron! I-I know that already, alright!?!"

Luna shivered at her trainer's power and ducked a little into her backpack.

"H-Heh, yeah... E-Especially, ow... Since, ow... H-He's the only one... ow, you've never hit..." Hop groaned on the ground with a weak chuckle.

Gloria walked over to him and helped pull the boy back on his feet, some guilt showing on her face.

"Sorry... I shouldn't have hit ya when you're already so beat up..."

"Heh, it's alright. That Onix has nothing compared to you, so I'm used to much scarier things!"

"Ya want me to punch ya again?" Gloria said with cross-veins popping out on her head.

"Please don't."

Hop then felt his phone vibrate, making him quickly pull it out to check.

Another bright smile formed on his face as he turned the screen to Gloria.

"Look Gloria! Victor's gonna fight Nessa now!"

"Huh!?" The girl snatched his phone and stared at it closely, watching the stadium field with text going by reading that Victor was indeed going to fight thee water type Gym Leader next.

Luna peaked out once more with a radiant expression, wishing to see one of Victor's specific pokemon fight.

"Wanna sit down and watch it together?" Hop suggested.

Gloria happily nodded up and down in excitement, the two of them then taking seats under the comfort of a tree that had an imprint of Hop's body on the trunk.

* * *

**~{Hulburry Gym Mission- Five Minutes Ago}~**

"Psybeam!" Victor shouted with a point of his finger.

Midori front flipped over a Water Gun from a Chewtle, a blue turtle-like pokemon, before then putting both hands on his head and puffing his cheeks out.

"Raaaaaaa!!" His head glowed purple and he fired a beam of psychic energy right at the Chewtle's forehead, sending him tumbling off the edge of the platforms they were on.

"Chewie!" It's trainer, a girl wearing the gym's water-themed uniform, dived down after her pokemon all the way into the water below.

"Ah! I'm sorry!!" Victor shouted from above, looking down and watching the trainer emerge from the water while holding her now unconscious pokemon.

"Don't worry about it, just keep going! Good luck!" The girl laughed it off while floating in the water, using her free hand to wave up at Victor.

Midori awkwardly backed up in embarrassment, not really meaning to have knocked the water type off.

"Alright, thank you!" Victor politely bowed from above before continuing on with the room.

He ran up the few stairs to another platform that had a blue pokeball-designed button. He quickly pressed it and the blue pipes of the room stopped flowing out water. Victor then turned his head and focused on the center of the room, seeing that there was now a clear path straight down the middle to get to the other end of the room.

"Perfect! Come on Midori!" Victor crouched down to his pokemon and let him hop onto his shoulder, then rising up and making his way towards the exit.

Midori held on to some of Victor's hair to keep himself balanced, but he stared off into his other hand while looking... frustrated.

Victor was too excited to notice as he ran to the end of the room while the gym's water trainers he had beaten waved to him. He soon made it to the water-symboled door, where steam and confetti blew up around him.

**"Gym Mission cleared!"** The referee shouted on the loudspeaker.

Victor grinned as Midori looked at the trainers whose pokemon he's beaten, counting the several pokemon he managed to fight by himself.

The big, blue door opened up, allowing Victor to walk into the familiar hall that would lead to the stadium.

"Alright, here we go." Victor pulled out his pokeball as he crouched down and placed Midori onto the ground. "Thanks for your hard work Midori, you can rest-"

"Ralts!" Midori cut him off, furiously shaking his head side to side.

"Huh?" Victor tilted his head from the unusual behavior. Midori was usually quiet or cheerful when fighting, but something seemed to be bothering him right now. "What's wrong?"

"Ralts! Ralts!" Midori whined to him.

"You want to keep fighting?"

The pokemon nodded.

"But why would you... Oh!" Victor's had a realization. "Are you still feeling bad about not evolving?"

Midori looked down to the ground, "Ralts..."

Victor sighed before reaching his hand out and rubbing his pokemon's head. "You don't have to feel like you're forced to keep fighting to evolve. I guess we just have had that 'moment' for it to happen yet. But it'll happen soon."

Midori was momentarily quiet before looking up more determined, "Ralts, Ralts! Ralts!"

"You really still want to fight?"

Midori nodded confidently.

Victor examined his pokemon's current state, which was that he actually didn't look to beat up, but still looked somewhat tired, indicated by his breathing.

But Victor still smiled at him, "Alright. Hop on!"

Midori smiled happily as he jumped onto his partner's head, holding onto his hair as the boy rose back to his feet.

"Just let me know if you're feeling too tired, alright?" Victor asked of him last.

"Ralts."

"Good, now then..." Victor confidently started walking down the hall again, "Time to show Nessa what we've got!"

As he walked, he heard the announcer getting everyone hyped up.

**"Here it is citizens! The match that you've been waiting for! After Miss Nessa's frightening winning streak today, will Victor of Postwick, one of the three endorsed by the champion, be the one to end it!?! Will he take his second gym badge from the beauty of the waves!?"**

Victor grinned.

"You know it."

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-Hulbury}~**

Sonia smiled as she watched the Hulbury Stadium's live feed from her phone. She was currently sitting on the wooden benches down the stairs near the Hulbury pokemon center. Her phone was propped up using her bag while she had an open notebook right in front of her.

"Oh? So they're finally gonna battle?" She placed her pen down and closed her notebook. Even while doing research on Galar's legends, the smart beauty had been keeping tabs on her bestie's gym, waiting for Victor to take on the battle so she could watch him as she had promised.

She rested her head on her hand while using her other hand to twirl her hair. "I actually haven't seen any more additions to Victor's team, have I? I wonder if he ended up basing his team off mine after all?" She chuckled.

"Oh? If it isn't Professor Magnolia's granddaughter?"

The ginger turned her head and saw Oleana and Chairman Rose himself walking over to her, only...

_"What the hell is he wearing?"_ Sonia sweatdropped.

The chairman had on a rather bizarre set of clothes consisting of a black hat, sunglasses, a white long-sleeved sweater, and green shorts with white polka dots on them.

"Ah, you may not recognize me because of my disguise!" He took off his sunglasses and put on a sparkling smile. "It's me, Chairman Rose!"

_"That was supposed to be a disguise!?!"_ The woman looked baffled.

"I could tell by the look on your face that you're completely stunned. It's rather effective at hiding me, isn't it?" Rose chuckled.

_"It's the exact opposite!"_ Sonia screamed in her mind.

"Erm, that wasn't... You know what? Sure, let's go with that. But what are you doing here anyways, Chairman?" The professor's assistant asked curiously.

Rose put his sunglasses back on, "Well, I made sure to keep my schedule open today besides that emergency warning I gave to Galar in the morning. I was waiting for young Gym Challenger Victor to face off against Nessa, I promised to meet with him in Hulbury's Captain's Table after he obtained his water badge."

He scratched his beard.

"What about you, Sonia? It's been quite a while since we've met face to face like this. Ever since your Gym challenge if I recall?"

Sonia's eye twitched when she heard that, reminded of her dropout.

_"It doesn't seem like he says bad things on purpose... I guess he's just a bit of an airhead? This must be what Nessa experienced yesterday..."_

She maintained a smile as she lifted her pink notebook, "I'm working on a personal project. I'm going through all of Galar's legends to see if I can discover something about the Slumbering Weald."

Rose smiled proudly, "As expected from Professor Magnolia's granddaughter, but what about the Slumbering Weald do you wish to discover?"

Sonia put up her signature peace sign and wink, "That's a secret for now!"

"Chairman, we should be going before someone sees you." Oleana advised her boss. 

"Huh? What do you mean, Oleana? Isn't this disguise perfect though?"

"I hate to say it, but your disguise isn't that effective, especially with me standing right beside you." The straight-faced woman pointed out.

Rose stared at his secretary for a moment with a line across his mouth, not agreeing or refuting the claim.

Instead, he turned back to Sonia with another smile. "Well, I would actually like to catch up a bit Sonia, so may I invite you to come with us to the Captain's Table? Their seafood is exquisite!"

She tapped her pen on her chin in thought, "Hm, I don't know... Did you say that Victor is gonna be there?"

"Why yes, I did. Could it be that you have some sort of interest in the boy?" Rose chuckled.

"Please keep in mind that as the older one, you have to be more responsible. Not to mention there will be plenty of struggles in maintaining that kind of relationship." Oleana said with no change in her cold expression.

"What in the world are you both implying!?!" Sonia shouted, not even embarrassed, but worried about what was going on through their heads.

Rose nervously laughed, "Er... That wasn't what I meant at all..."

"My mistake." Oleana said when she heard the chairman, yet her expression didn't change one bit as she just flipped through the pages of her clipboard.

"I do apologize for that, I understand how awkward that must feel. But anyway, would you still like to come with us and meet up with Gym Challenger Victor over dinner?"

Sonia then put on another smile as she picked up her phone from the table and saw Victor and her bestie walking towards the middle of the stadium's court.

She grinned, "Alright, but let's go quick! I don't wanna miss this battle!"

Rose smiled, "Neither do I."

* * *

**~{Hulbury Stadium}~**

**"And here he is! Give a round of applause for the challenger once again, Victor of Postwick!"**

Victor came into view of the audience with Midori on top of his head, both of them waving in sync at everyone cheering for them. 

He then gazed ahead at Nessa walking out of the opposite entrance to the stadium, the model showing no sign of stress or fatigue despite facing so many other challengers for one day. If anything, she looked pumped up than ever as her aqua eyes honed in on Victor.

The two kept walking until the met in the center of the arena, where the model put her hands to her hips and grinned.

"About time you showed up! For a second I thought you skedaddled!" She joked.

"Sorry, the line was really long." Victor awkwardly chuckled with Midori nodding.

"Yeah, but now you're finally here! I've been looking forward to this. Just because we're friends doesn't mean I'll go easy on you like Milo did! No matter what kind of plan you have, my pokemon will be sure to sink it!"

Despite the model's claim, Victor was visibly confused by an entirely different matter.

"Wait, where _do_ you even keep your pokemon?" He asked, reminding himself of her... limited clothing.

Nessa stared blankly at him for a second before getting into some laugher. "Seriously? You're asking that right now!?"

"Well I mean, I'm curious." Victor couldn't help but admit.

"Well..." Nessa held up her hand and then covered it with the other, and the next thing Victor knew, there was a Dive Ball in her palm.

"Wha-!? But there wasn't- How'd you do that!?" He asked as both he and Midori had stars in their eyes.

"Magic." Nessa giggled as she tossed the ball up and caught it, "It's actually one of Galar's greatest mysteries."

_"Seriously?"_

"But let's not waste any more time, my fans are cheering for me to win this!" Nessa shouted.

Victor's challenging grin returned as Midori looked pumped on top of him.

"And I'm sure my friends are counting on me to win this! I've had quite the winning streak, and I'm confident to say I don't lose!"

"Time to break it then, it's showtime!" Nessa firmly held her pokeball as she turned her back to Victor and started walking.

Victor turned around and did the same, the two of them creating an appropriate amount of space for their battle ahead. 

When both turned around to face each other in the distance, a voice echoed in the stadium.

**"Let the battle... BEGIN!!"**

Nessa stood on one leg while raising the other all the way up with ease, then pitching her Dive Ball across the field.

_"Damn."_ Victor couldn't help but stare in admiration, recalling just how flexible the model was.

Out of the Dive Ball came a Goldeen, a white, fish-like pokemon with orange markings and a white horn on its forehead. It floated above the ground and-

"Wait a second, I still never understood how they can do that!!" Victor pointed out, wondering how this, and so many other fish pokemon could not just breath out of the water, but even float just a little above the ground in such a way that it looked like it was swimming.

Nessa seemed to know what he meant and just laughed, "Maybe it's magic too? You're focusing on too many of the wrong things right now!"

Midori jumped off Victor's head and landed in front of him in a crouch, then standing up and looking ready.

"Ralts, Ralts!"

Victor smiled, "Alright, Midori! Use Psybeam!"

"Raaa!" Midori jumped forward and fired a telekinetic beam at the fish.

"Agility!" Nessa shouted immediately.

"Gol!" The Goldfish pokemon suddenly vanished from the spot, the psychic attack missing completely.

"Ralts!?" Midori was shocked.

"Now use Horn Attack!" Nessa pointed.

"Teleport out of the way!"

Midori listened and glowed pink before vanishing just as the Goldeen appeared, trying to ram its horn into him.

"Disarming Voice!"

Midori appeared in the air and took a deep breath, "RAAAAAA!!!!" Heart-shaped projectiles fired off at the water type below.

"Whirlpool!"

The Goldeen suddenly spun in a circle where water came up, then forming a cyclone that not only dispersed Midori's oncoming attack, but tried to pull him in from the air.

_"Whirlpool!? Isn't that more of a tornado since it's on land!?"_ Victor thought in shock.

He shook his head.

_"Too many questions! Just focus!"_

"Midori! Teleport away!"

The panicking pokemon focused himself to vanish before he could get sucked into the vortex.

The tornado of water then dispersed as Midori appeared a good distance away, revealing the Goldeen now glaring at him.

"Use Agility to get close!" Nessa shouted with a point of her finger. "Then use Horn Attack!"

"Wait for it Midori!" Victor said confidently.

"Gol! Gol!" The Goldeen vanished from how fast it went, intending to have its horn strike.

Midori stood still as he listened around him, drowning out the shouts of the people in the stadium.

Victor also paid attention to where the Goldeen was, his senses sharpened especially after the training from Sensei.

Midori heard a woosh the same time Victor's eyes picked up a moving blur, making both of them smile.

"Draining Kiss!"

Midori leaned his body to the side as Goldeen came by with his horn forward, barely missing by the perfect timing. At the same time, Midori kept his face close as he performed the attack Victor told him to perform.

*Chu!*

He managed to place a glowing pink kiss on the side of the Goldeen just as it passed by, suddenly causing it to tumble out of the air.

_"This will be really awkward if that Goldeen's a male, but whatever, the attack worked!"_

"Goldeen, get up and used Water Pulse!" Nessa shouted across, smiling despite her pokemon getting knocked down.

The tumbling Goldeen suddenly bounced off the ground with a spin and pointed its face in Midori's direction.

"GOOOOOOO!!!" It opened its mouth and a pulsing blast of water towards its opponent.

"Power through with Psybeam!" Victor shouted, knowing that Midori's move and Special Attack were both stronger than Goldeen's.

"MMmmm!!" Midori focused again as he blasted his purple beam right into Goldeen's water move, piercing through it and continuing all the way to the fish pokemon itself.

"Gol-!?" He was struck right on his face, resulting in him flying through the air once again before plopping onto the ground, unconscious.

"Great job, Midori!" Victor jumped with a cheer.

**"Miss Nessa's first pokemon is down, but she's not out of it just yet!"**

Nessa returned her Goldeen back into its pokeball, slightly sweating but grinning excitedly.

"For such a small guy, your Ralts is quite the fighter. Probably more than Gloria's own before it evolved."

She pulled out a second Dive Ball, "But how _fast_ is he?"

As she was about to throw her second pokemon out, Victor interrupted.

"Meh, he's kinda fast, but more of just on a human speed level." He said with a give or take hand motion.

"..." 

Nessa covered her mouth, "Pfft! That was a rhetorical question! But I still love your honesty!"

She then tossed out her second Dive Ball, releasing a brown and tan fish pokemon with two big black eyes and two small teeth pointed upward.

"Arrokuda!" The pokemon shouted with a derpy expression.

Nessa didn't waste any time. "Aqua Jet!"

"Arro!" The Rush Pokemon was surrounded in water and blasted as a blue blur.

"Ra-AAH!!" Midori was caught off guard by speeds even faster than the previous Goldeen, getting directly rammed into his stomach.

"Midori!" Victor shouted as he saw his pokemon tumble on the ground.

"Don't let him get up! Use Bite!" Nessa mercilessly shouted.

The Arrokuda burst out of his water and opened his large jaw, diving at the stumbling Midori.

"Teleport away!"

Midori vanished from the spot just the Arrokuda's jaws clamped closed.

"Aqua Jet behind you!"

Nessa's pokemon listened upon landing and turned around, suddenly blasting himself while being surrounded in water.

Midori appeared right in the direction Arrokuda was heading towards, shocking both him and Victor.

He was rammed into once more and his feet dragged along the ground, the Feeling Pokemon pushing back and trying not to get blown away.

"Push him back and use Psybeam!"

Midori felt his feet getting forcefully getting pushed back by the Arrokuda trying to push forward. For once, he felt really stressed out and in trouble. In every battle before, he hadn't really been in such a position, and this time this predicament was escalating his thoughts.

"You can do it Midori! We both know you can!" Victor encouraged.

"Push right through!" Nessa shouted to her own pokemon.

"Arro!" Arrokuda tried to push even harder, the intense watery aura around him bursting up and pushing Midori back more.

"Raa.... Raaa..." Midori gnarred as his feet were sliding back on the ground once more.

He took deep breaths as he just focused on pushing back, feeling his power pushing him.

"Raaa! RAAAAA-!!!"

He suddenly started glowing blue, making everyone's eyes widen.

**"What!? Is this what I think it is!?"** The commentator shouted.

"NOT AGAIN!" Nessa found herself shouting with a comedic look of trauma, recalling the last time a Ralts evolved right in front of her.

"-KIRLIAAAA!!!" Midori exploded in blue and send the Arrokuda flying back, revealing his new evolution in all his glory.

"Arro!?" Arrokuda flopped on the ground in shock, then bouncing up to float just above it.

"You've gotta be kidding me!? Why _again_!?" Nessa grabbed her own head and shook it in frustration.

"Ayyyy! Way to go Midori! I told you you'd evolve sooner or later!" Victor shouted in glee.

Midori caught his breath as he looked down at his taller body for a second, processing his new appearance. 

Then his eyes flared up as he shouted "KIRLIAAAA!!!!" with all his might.

Victor awkwardly sweatdropped at what his pokemon said.

_"Language, Midori..."_

Nessa pouted before pointing ahead, "I am NOT losing to another Ralts! Er- Kirila, again! Arrokuda, Aqua Jet!"

"Arro!" Her pokemon listened and blasted forward while engulfed in water.

"Watch out!" Victor warned him.

Midori jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding getting hit once again.

"Psybeam!"

"Kiiiiiiir!!!" Midori fire another pink beam.

"Outrun it with Aqua Jet!"

Arrokuda circled around in a blur, avoiding getting hit while getting closer to Midori.

"Double Team!"

Midori ran forward while several clones of himself appeared beside him.

"Kuda!?" The Arrokuda was confused as to which one to go for.

"Stop and use Whirlpool to make them all disappear!" Nessa shouted as some sweat flew off her.

"Teleport on it to stop it!" Victor immediately shouted with a smile.

"Kirlia!" The real Midori vanished just as the Arrokuda started to circle around in an attempt to make a cyclone.

Midori then appeared right over the Arrokuda and landed right on top of him, holding on tightly as his clones disappeared by his will.

"Arro!?"

"Shake him off with Aqua Jet!"

Midori held on tight as Arrokuda blasted around, whipping his body to shake him off.

"Draining Kiss to finish it!"

Midori forced his mouth over the Arrokuda's forehead.

*Chuuuu!!!*

Arrokuda suddenly stopped in the air, his energy drained causing him to pass out with Midori still on him.

"Kir-Kirl-! Ah!" Victor's pokemon tumbled on the ground with Arrokuda until both came to a stop.

"You got him!" Victor cheered.

**"Nessa's second pokemon is already down!?** **But what's this? It looks like challenger Victor's newly evolved Kirlia is down as well!"**

"Huh?" Victor focused on ahead and saw Midori with his back on the ground, panting heavily now with his eyes closed.

_"He's tired out even after draining its energy? Is the relief of evolving getting to him?"_

Victor smiled as he still saw Midori trying to raise himself off the ground.

"It's alright Midori! You've done more than enough! I'm proud of you!"

His pokemon glanced back and gave Victor a weak smile, then letting himself fall to the ground and sleeping.

"Kirl..."

Victor returned his new Kirlia back into his pokeball, then glancing ahead as Nessa had already pulled out her third Dive Ball.

"What do you think of me so far? Feeling overwhelmed like I thought you'd be?" Victor teased.

"Ha! As if! Even though I'm down to my last pokemon, I've been saving the best for last!"

"Oh, your Drednaw, right!?" Victor asked excitedly.

"Oh come on! You could've at _least_ waited for me to bring it out!" Nessa complained.

"Sorry, he's my favorite of yours!" Victor smiled.

But then his smile changed into a blank expression as he realized something. "Ah, now that I think about it... the rest of my team are all at a disadvantage against Rock Types..."

That made Nessa grin, "I knew that from the start! Come on out Drednaw, show them your stuff!"

She flung her Dive Ball and out came her signature pokemon landing on the ground on all fours.

"Naaaaaw!!" Drednaw, the Bite Pokemon, roared.

Victor pulled out his Friend Ball, feeling excited.

"Alrighty, its time to show us what you've got! Go, Tesla!"

He tossed the ball up and out came his new Charjabug, ready to prove his worth and fight the best he-

Oh wait, he's sleeping.

"Zzzzz.... Charja... Charja..." Tesla snored with his sleep bubble growing and shrinking.

Victor sweatdropped with an awkward chuckle while Nessa burst out in laugher across him.

"Hahahaha! Why am I not surprised?!" The model shouted in amusement, recalling the amusing behavior of the bug and electric pokemon. 

**"It appears that Challenger Victor has a new pokemon, a Charjabug! But he's... sleeping?"**

Victor returned Tesla into his ball and then released him at his feet this time, then crouching down with a small smile.

"Hey, Tesla. Little buddy, time to wake up." He used his finger to gently poke the living battery's forehead.

"Mm... Charja..." Tesla turned his body away and mumbled.

"Squish." Victor said as he poked him again.

"Nn..." Tesla stirred.

"Poke." This time, Victor poked the sleep bubble, popping it.

"CHARJA!?!" Tesla woke up with a start and his cheeks immediately sparked with power.

Nessa deadpanned, "Oh no-"

"KYAAAAH!!" Victor's screams echoed.

"Yup, thought so." 

The model watched as Victor got electrocuted once again by his own startled pokemon.

There were many gasped in the audience, but Victor stood up straight and shook the char off his body.

"I-I'm okay! Th-This isn't the first time this happened!" He laughed it off despite twitching.

The audience all stared straight-faced as they heard that.

Tesla turned to Victor and glanced up at him rather annoyed. "Charja-bug!"

"Hey! You probably shouldn't have gone to sleep when you knew I'd bring you out for this battle! Get out there buddy!" Victor pointed in confidence.

Tesla turned around and saw Nessa's Drednaw growling at him ahead, just making him sigh.

"Bug, bug..." He wiggled his body across the floor, getting away from Victor and moving closer to the center of the battlefield to meet his opponent.

_"Awwwww."_ The audience couldn't help but adore the pokemon squirming across the field.

When Tesla got far enough, he seemed to do some light stretches with his body while grumbling.

He then took a deep breath. "Char..."

Before his eyes flashed yellow and his entire body burst in an aura of energy.

"-JAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

"Wow!!" Victor shouted, caught off guard by this sudden demonstration of power that illuminated the area in yellow. "Awesome! Let's show them your strength!"

"Oh? Then I guess I'll have to bring everything out at once! Drednaw, flood the stadium and make it our ocean! It's time to Gigantamax!"

Nessa returned her Drednaw into its Dive Ball, then letting it turn pink and grow several times its size. She then grinned as she used both of her arms to toss the ball up into the air and release her pokemon in a new form. It changed into its Gigantamax appearance, standing on its two back legs, and growing humungous in the stadium.

It opened its mouth to let out a roar.

**"Dredna-!!!"**

"CHARJAAAAAAA!!!!" Tesla actually interrupted with a shriek, jumping up and down and actually startling Nessa's last pokemon.

**"N-Naw?"**

"Well then." Nessa said with a straight face, not expecting Victor's funny Charjabug to start acting so... feisty.

"Alright, Tesla! That's more like it! Let's not power behind either!"

Victor grabbed his Friend Ball once more, his Dynamax Band glowing pink.

"Dynamax time!!"

Once more his Dynamax Band coursed power into his own pokeball as he returned Tesla back into it, then making it grow and glow pink.

But this time, Victor felt a shock go through his arm, making him somewhat wince as he held the large pokeball in his arms.

Nessa noticed the boy flinch in pain.

"Hey, what's wrong-?" She cut herself off as she noticed a pink glow suddenly spark in his eyes, but was gone the moment he blinked again.

_"Huh? Did they just... Did I see-?"_

Victor seemed to have already gotten over that shock he felt, instead letting his excitement guide him as he grinned.

"C'mon Tesla! Charge this Drednaw up like the Battery Pokemon you are!"

Victor raised the large pokeball over his head and flung it up, releasing a pokemon that was shorter, but still nearly as big as Nessa's Drednaw.

Tesla's body flopped onto the ground in a large crash, his eyes glowing menacingly yellow as he gave off a pink aura from Dynamaxing.

He took a deep breath.

**"REEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!"** Many of the audience had to cover their ears.

Nessa focused back on the battle with a grin, her excitement growing to its peak, feeling her blood pumping as she felt the dangerous aura coming off of Victor's Charjabug.

"This is a little gift from us! I hope you can take it!" She pointed her hand forward. "Use Max Rockfall!"

**"Drednaaaaw!!!"** Her pokemon stomped its foot onto the ground, suddenly sending up a giant, rectangular-shaped mound of rock that miraculously didn't even look like it came out of the ground itself. He then pushed the giant slab of rock forward to send it down onto Tesla.

"Max Guard!" Victor shouted, no one noticing that the veins around his right arm flash pink for a split second, the same arm that held his Dynamax Band.

**"Charja!"** Tesla closed his mouth and eyes, suddenly forming a giant barrier in front of him. The giant rock fell right onto it, shattering apart and protecting Tesla from any damage.

_"No sandstorm for her!"_ Victor thought as he pointed his finger forward.

"Now counter-attack with Max Lightning!"

**"Charja!"**

Rather than black clouds appearing from above, high amounts of electricity seemed to charge into the spiked, yellow tips on Tesla's face, making them even brighter than his shining yellow eyes.

"Don't let them, Drednaw! Use your signature power of water! Unleash a G-Max Stonesurge!"

The giant Gigatamax Drednaw opened its mouth and formed a swirling ball of water in it, letting it grow intensely as his eyes narrowed in on Tesla.

**"Dred... NAAAWWW!!!!"** He blasted an intense and giant beam of water ahead.

**"Char... JAAAAAAAA!!!!!"** Tesla's eyes shined even more intensely yellow as the two spikes on his face blasted all his charged electricity forward.

Their attacks collided in the center, sending sparks and water all over the place. Both pokemon firmly held their ground as they tried to push their attacks through.

"Power through, Drednaw!!" Nessa shouted with a large smile.

Victor on the other hand, grinned as used both his hands to cup over his mouth, intending to shout.

"TESLA!!!"

The pokemon kept focused on his power but heard Victor's voice.

"USE THE ENERGY IN YOUR SAC!!"

"Huh!?" Nessa heard him all the way from the other side, wondering what he meant by that.

She then recalled one small fact about Charjabugs that she had read before on her pokedex. It had a digestive process that would convert food, especially leaves, that it eats into energy. Then this energy is stored in an electric sac in its belly so that it can be used for later use.

_"Wait a second, if that Charjabug has been eating as much as much as I think it does, then that means..."_

Her pupils shrunk and she actually felt a chill in her spine, resulting in her letting out an awkward laugh.

"Ah... Shi-"

**"CHAAAAAAAAAAR!!!!!"**

Tesla's pink dynamax aura suddenly flared up in an electrical yellow, his spikes blasting twice as much electricity than before.

**"DRE-!?"** Drednaw's eyes widened as this wave of electricity pierced right through his beam of water, then reaching all the way and shaking the entire stadium as its connection resulted in a giant explosion.

Nessa covered her eyes from the bright light from the discharge, keeping her feet planted as she felt the intense winds trying to blow her back.

This lasted for a few seconds, then the light, as well as the winds, died down.

Nessa immediately glanced ahead and saw her Drednaw laying on its side, swirls in its eyes and clearly unconscious with it and even the ground under him comedically charred.

She then looked ahead as Tesla shrunk back down to normal, but still had a burning intensity in his still _furiously_ glowing yellow eyes.

"CHARJAAAAAAAAA!!!!!" His shriek echoed in the now completely silent stadium.

Then he just plopped onto his side and closed his eyes.

"Zzzzz..."

Nessa and the audience were black and white with agape mouths, completely baffled.

Even Victor had a blank face from the sudden changes of behavior.

_"Tesla's scary..."_

**"E-Er... N-Nessa's last pokemon is unable to fight! So the ch-challenger wins!!"**

The stadium instantly recovered all of their previous excitement, unleashing roars and cheers for Victor.

Victor snapped out of his awkward state and smiled excitedly.

"We did it!" He ran ahead to his sleeping Tesla and scooped him up, tightly hugging him. "You were amazing, Tesla!"

"Charja... Zzz..." His pokemon just snuggled in his arms.

Nessa was still in her stunned state after what she had just seen, but her expression slowly turned into a smile that had the corners of her mouth go all the way up.

Then that smile turned into a laugh, "Wow! I may be the strongest member of this gym, but I was totally washed away!"

Victor raised his head and started walking towards the Gym Leader, shining proudly in front of everyone.

"Hah! I knew I'd win! I don't lose!"

That made Nessa laugh again as she started walking to meet Victor in the middle, returning her Drednaw back into its ball.

"You're starting to sound like Leon! Maybe you'll be our next champion after all?"

"I sure hope so!" Victor thought confidently.

The two of them walked until they met at the center of the arena, where Victor then wrapped Tesla in just one arm.

Nessa pulled out the water badge from her pocket.

"You truly are deserving of this badge. Not just for proving your strength in this battle, but also for proving the kindness and understanding you have for not just pokemon..." She sweetly smiled at him. "But towards people as well. Thank you, Victor..."

"Heh, heh." Victor couldn't help but feel flattered, extending his free arm and taking Nessa by the hand to not just receive his second badge, but to shake the model's hand. "And thank you Nessa for being as amazing as I knew you'd be!"

They shook hands for a few seconds before they heard the commentator start speaking.

**"Miss Nessa lost five times in a row, then went on a massive winning streak, but then lost to the final one endorsed by the champion himself! What does this mean!?"**

Nessa saw the flying, green camera Rotom coming down for close-ups of the two, almost as if expecting an answer.

She grinned mischievously, "It means..."

Still holding his hand, Nessa suddenly pulled Victor close.

"Wah!?" The boy was caught off guard as he was pulled in but then felt Nessa let go of his hand, only for her to then wrapped an arm around his shoulder once again, keeping his head close to hers. 

The model then held up her other hand with a peace sign and winked at the camera, keeping a large grin with it.

"Some of this year's challengers are more amazing than ever!"

Victor lightly blushed as he picked off a womanly scent from Nessa, but after hearing what she said, he laughed happily before doing his own wink and peace sign.

"OOOOOOOH!!!" Many of the audience had their eyes engrossed on the sight, whether from jealously, or just pure shock.

* * *

**~{Meanwhile- The Captain's Table, Seafood Restuarant}~**

"Well now, isn't that something?" Rose stared at how happy Nessa and Victor looked together in the stadium, comparing how the model looked now to how different she looked the last time he saw her.

Sonia had a surprised look on her face as she saw her bestie and Victor on her phone, watching the two of them doing winks and peace signs that she remembered doing with Nessa.

"Since when did they get so close?"

She tilted her head curiously and stared at how happy her bestie was, forming her own smile when she didn't see any sign of the previous worry or stress on her friend like what she had heard in the morning from her.

"Victor... What did you do?" She knew he did something, from how close they seemed in just this one moment, it was obvious something was up.

"It seems our favorite model has gotten rather close to our very interesting challenger." Rose chuckled.

"Hopefully they don't cause some sort of scandal." Oleana replied without much care, still writing down things in her clipboard.

Sonia and even Rose both awkwardly sweatdropped.

"You don't ever hold back your thoughts, do you?" Rose asked his secretary with an awkward chuckle.

"What's the point?" Oleana replied as she continued scribbling.

_"Oh boy..."_ Sonia couldn't help but think.

The stern woman then stood up from her seat and bowed politely to both Rose and Sonia.

"I'll go fetch Gym Challenger Victor, now that he's earned his badge."

"Er, do you really have to do that? I'm sure he'll remember such an important meeting and come here." Sonia asked.

Oleana turned to the young adult with her emotionless gaze, "While a part of me wants to make _sure_ that Gym Challenger Victor comes, the other part of me will be with him to provide some protection."

Sonia raised an eyebow, "Protection, from what?"

"Nessa's fans."

The professor's assistant immediately knew what she meant by that.

_"Uh oh."_

* * *

**~{At The Same Time-East Lake Axewell}~**

"Wow, that was some battle! Victor's Charjabug kinda scares me, but _man_ does he look strong!" Hop grinned excitedly. "What about you Gloria? What did you thin-GAH!!"

Hop suddenly backed away from his friend in fear.

"Kirl?" Luna turned to him curiously before glancing down at her trainer, feeling fear go all the way up her spine. "K-KIRL!?" She even jumped out of Gloria's backpack and landed on top of Hop while shivering with him.

Both of them stared at an intense, black aura that was all around Gloria.

The girl had a completely dead look in her eyes, all color gone from them as she stared at how close Victor was next to Nessa. Hop's phone shook in her hands as the boy slowly but cautiously inched his way closer to her.

"E-Erm... G-Gloria?"

"K-Kirl? Kirl?"

"Heh... Heh..."

Both of them froze when they heard an empty laugh from the girl.

The Scottish girl slowly turned her head in a twitching manner, revealing to them a scary grin full of malicious intent.

"Hop? Dae ye think a'd git awa' wi-?" 

"YOU'RE DIALECT IS SLIPPING AND IT'S SCARY!"

* * *

**~{Hulbury Gym Locker Room- Ten Minutes Later}~**

"There we... go!" Victor adjusted his beanie in front of the mirror in the gym's public locker room, a place usually for challengers to quickly change alone and leave their things in lockers.

He took a look at himself, once again dress back in his usual attire. He then turned his back to the mirror, showing his backpack that was slightly open to reveal Tesla sleeping once more.

"Perfect." He smiled.

He then heard a knock on one of the entrances to the room, making him curiously turn his head.

"Victor? You still in there? Can I come in?"

The boy recognized Nessa's voice and was surprised, "Um, yeah. You can come in, but aren't you supposed to be fighting more challengers?"

The door opened up and the Gym Leader peaked her head in with a smile.

"Nope! Decided to stop for today. My pokemon and I pretty much went all out just so we could go up against you. Now that we're done, we kinda just wanted to end the day on a good note. Fighting you was really fun." She stepped in with her hands behind her back, happily walking up to the boy.

"Heh, fighting you was amazing too! Especially since I saw that glow return to your eyes."

"Oh you." Nessa giggled, reaching down to his head and patting it playfully. "So, you'll be heading off for Kabu then? He'll definitely want to fight you as you are now."

"I'm looking forward to it." Victor said confidently.

"I'm sure you are, but can I ask you something?" Nessa tilted her head. "I noticed you had your pokemon, 'Midori' use the same moves a lot. Don't you think about using any TMs or TRs for him or your other pokemon?"

Victor paused for a moment, blankly staring as he was reminded of such important items. TMs, Technical Machines, items of the sort that allowed pokemon to learn a new move and can be used indefinitely. Then there were TRs, Technical Records, items that did teach a move, but would break upon being used. These items were indeed useful for him.

"Ah, the thought never came to mind. I forgot those existed." Victor admitted with an awkward chuckle. "So... Shops and Raid Dens, right?"

Nessa nodded, "Yup, that's where you get them. I hope you find moves that can really help you."

She then started twirling her hair with a finger, "So... Anyway, you're leaving now, right?" There was a sign of disappointment in both her voice and eyes, knowing that the boy indeed would have to move on.

"Yeah, and you'll be back to fighting challengers and modeling again, right? We probably won't see each other for a while." Victor said in a low tone.

Nessa frowned, "I might be really busy since it's still the beginning of the Gym Challenge, so I'm sure a lot more challengers will face me, especially those I've fought just earlier..."

But the model then put on a smile, "But don't think it means that you're getting away from me so easily! Remember what you promised? _Any_ time I call you for a date, you're coming with me!"

Victor just chuckled, "I remember, there's no way I'd turn it down!"

"Oh, but make sure you don't tell anyone we went on a 'date.' I mean, just don't call it that." Nessa suddenly said, looking oddly worried.

"Eh? Why?" Victor tilted his head.

"Well, it can lead to... misunderstandings." The model lightly blushed while turning her head away.

Victor blinked in some confusion before just shrugging, "Okay."

"Thank you." Nessa said, then clearing her throat and stopping what she was thinking.

She then put on another big smile, reaching her hand out to him.

"On another note, lend me your phone real quick."

"Alrighty!" Victor said, not even asking why as he handed her his Rotom Phone.

Nessa then took a moment to tap a few things on the boy's phone, then pulling out her own phone to see it ringing. 

"There we go." She handed his phone back with a satisfied smile, to which Victor glanced down at it and saw a new contact by the name of **Water Beauty.** "I plan to be taking a lot more breaks, so I'll be calling you when I do."

Victor stared down at the new number he obtained on his phone, a squeal going in his head at the thought of getting closer with someone so amazing.

"And one _last_ thing before you go~"

Victor detected some sort of teasing in her voice, then feeling Nessa's hand on his chin.

"Eh?" He felt his head raised and felt something soft press on his forehead.

*Chu~*

It took him a moment to realize that Nessa mouth was on his forehead, giving him a gentle kiss. It felt soft and warm, but didn't even last for a second, as the model already pulled her head back and let go of him.

"How was that?" She giggled with a satisfied grin.

Victor was actually baffled, feeling that the action from the Nessa was just out of nowhere.

"Huh? Bu-Wha-?" Victor found himself unable to say words, completely bewildered and even backing up with a light blush.

"Oh? So I've _finally_ found something that can catch you off guard?" Nessa smirked with her hands on her hips.

"W-Wait a second! Why'd you do that!? Only mom's ever done that to me! Oh, and Gloria a few times when she thinks I'm sleeping."

_"Hold on, what was that second part?"_ Nessa deadpanned.

"So... Why?" Victor asked again, tilting his head while his hand felt the warm spot on his forehead.

Nessa just gave him a lovely smile as she raised a finger and booped Victor on the nose.

"You don't remember? I _did_ say I'd kiss you if you pulled out something I didn't catch before."

Victor immediately recalled pulling up the Gyarados behind the stadium, then also recalling the claim Nessa had made in her confidence that he wouldn't reel in anything she hadn't caught before.

"Ooooooooh." Victor's formed an awkward smile as he came to the realization, "You.. didn't really have to do that."

"Why not? You didn't like it?" Nessa leaned her head closer with a teasing smile.

"I mean, I did like it... It was warm." Victor pleasantly smiled. "It's just that... You didn't have to feel obligated to do it. I'm pretty sure you only do that with people you know really well... The people you're the closest with."

Nessa could practically see Victor's innocence brightly illuminate the entire room. She suddenly felt something stop in her body for a split second, which then followed by intense thumping coming from it.

She turned around and clutched her heart, realizing that both the pause and fast thumping came from it.

_"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! What was that!?"_ She moved a hand to her face and felt how warm it was, realizing that she must be blushing. _"D-Did my heart just-!?"_

"Um, what's wrong?" Victor asked, getting closer to her out of concern.

"Nothing, just..." Nessa remained in motionless silence for a couple of seconds, making Victor tilt his head.

The water user then took a deep breath and turned around, avoiding the boy's eyes as she twirled her hair with an unsure look.

"*Ahem...* Well, I'm gonna head out to my studio to check out all the photos and footage we got today, so I'm gonna say one last thing... For real this time."

She walked to the boy, opening her arms and wrapping them around him.

"Eh?" Victor was surprised that he was getting tightly held by the model once again, a question mark forming above him.

"Thanks... For everything." He heard her mumble.

Victor then smiled as he patted her back.

"I didn't do too much-"

"Don't say something that obviously isn't true." Nessa cut him off.

"Oh, okay... Um... Then you're welcome?" Victor chuckled.

Nessa held him for a few more seconds before letting go, then letting out a happy breath of relief.

"Well, I wish you good luck on your challenge, Victor! Until next time, whether it's hanging out or having a friendly battle." Nessa rustled his hair through his beanie with another sweet smile before turning around and exiting the room.

Victor had a heartfelt smile as he adjusted his special beanie back on his head.

"I can't wait for it."

As Nessa walked up the stairs to go to the other rooms in the stadium, humming happily while thinking about the day she's had.

She thought about Victor's company and his battle, understanding just how amazing and one of a kind the boy is. 

"He really is a refined trainer. Our entire battle he seemed ahead of me, especially when he brought out his Charjabug."

She then found herself pausing as she remembered something about their battle.

"Ah, I forgot to ask about his eyes... Did they really turn pink? Or was it just the energy from his Dynamax Band reflecting off his eyes?"

She started walking again, a look of curiosity on her face

"Well... I guess it's too late now."

She looked up with a finger on her chin.

"Maybe I'll find out later."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ghosts: No,no,no,no,no,no!
> 
> *Pop!*(Sucks them into the red vacuum)
> 
> Phew, that's another room cleared... But more importantly, *gasp* Victor got a smooch! Hurray! It was a sweet, playful, and innocent smooch, but still a smooch! Oh, and he got his second badge and all, but that's not important! Sadly, things must come to an end, so Victor must leave the beautiful model behind and continue on with his journey... *Sniff* But not without one final moment together! I really did enjoy writing this part, and hoped all of you enjoyed reading it. Next time, Victor finally meets up with Rose and even Sonia! Then he heads off into the second Galar Mines! Huh? But who is he going to meet there? I can't wait!
> 
> (Hears laughter behind him)
> 
> ...
> 
> (Turns around to see a large Boo with purple eyes and a crown, surrounded by dozens of other Boos all staring.)
> 
> Heh, well then.
> 
> (Tosses vacuum to the side and grabs the rag making up his own body.)
> 
> Lets do this, ghost to ghost.
> 
> (Rips rag and eyes flash red, then screeching as the area is developed in darkness.)


	16. A Meal and A Mine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Sits alone in an office with two doors on each side, staring at a screen with three animatronics)
> 
> Hm? Oh, hi there! Didn't see you there! I'm sure you're ready for another chapter, are you? Heh, previously, Victor finally got the smooch he deserved! Oh, and won his second badge, but meh, not important.
> 
> (Peaks at the camera screen, seeing three animatronics still there.)
> 
> Haven't move... Hm? Oh anyway, now it's time for young Victor to meet up with Chairman Rose in their promised meeting to eat! I wonder what they'll talk about? And what'll happen after that? Let's find out now!
> 
> (Looks at the screen to see only two animatronics.)
> 
> ...
> 
> Turns left to door and turns on light, revealing a bunny robot.
> 
> Yeaaaaaaaaaaaah... Nope.
> 
> (Shuts door)

** ~{Hulbury Stadium Gym- 7:23PM}~ **

_ "Well... Ain't this a problem?" _

Victor was rather overwhelmed by what he could only describe as a stampede of people. From Gym Challengers, normal citizens, and even the media had rushed into the Hulbury Gym, getting passed the league staff despite their struggles to hold them back. They had all gathered around Victor and started bombarding him with questions. Some of the group were confused, others excited, and some just straight-up furious.

"Challenger Victor! What's your relationship with Hulbury's Gym Leader, Nessa!?" A blonde, female reporter pushed through while her cameraman struggled to follow from behind.

"We met today, I helped her out with a problem, and now we're friends." Victor smiled.

"Why did Miss Nessa hug you like that!?!" An infuriated man shouted while holding a banner of the model.

"It's just some playful teasing from her, I'm sure." Victor chuckled.

"Are you and Nessa a thing!?!" A girl squealed in the crowd.

"Define 'thing.'" He replied with a question mark appearing over him.

"How can you be so close to Miss Nessa!?!" Victor saw the infuriated man with Nessa's face painted on his belly.

"I... don't really know? All I did was listen to her." Victor shrugged.

"You little-!"

" _ Excuse _ me." A voice hissed behind the crowd.

Everyone had chills and became silent as they heard the voice. Victor saw people moving from the back of the crowd and knew someone was making their way to the front, piquing his interest.

When the front line of people dispersed, Victor saw the Chairman's secretary walking through looking as cold as usual.

"Oh! Oleana!" Victor smiled to see someone familiar, even if he didn't really talk to her. "I was just gonna head over to the Captain's Table!"

Oleana stopped in front of him and sighed, "Don't say that out loud. It'll bring unwanted attention to the Chairman."

"Ah, whoops." Victor mumbled.

"So Gym Challenger Victor has a meeting with the Chairman!? May we come along and-!"

Oleana turned to the reporter and gave an intense glare, "You are  _ not  _ permitted to be with the Chairman, only Gym Challenger Victor was invited."

"Um, can everyone stop calling me 'Gym Challenger?' Just Victor is fine."

The boy's words seemed ignored as Oleana turned back to him with a stoic look, "I don't like it when people keep the Chairman waiting. He's the type of man who gets downhearted if he doesn't take care of things right away. So I came to escort you there myself. Come with me.  _ Alone. _ "

The tone of her last word conveyed a hostile message to the rest of the group.

"Okay!" Victor smiled as he started following her out the door. No one was dumb enough to follow them out, as they knew that Oleana was a rather dangerous person and not only acted as a secretary to the Chairman, but also as his personal guardian.

When Victor stepped outside, he realized that the sun had already gone down on the horizon and the sky was already turning dark.

_ "Hm, I might be out late when I try to make it back to Motostoke..." _ Victor thought as he followed Oleana down the street.

It was only a short trip to the Captain's Table, but when the two got there, they saw a crowd of people already gathered in front of the restaurant, being held back by a few Pokemon League Staff belonging to Rose's company, Macro Cosmos.

"Oh, for the love of..." Oleana sighed before walking over to the entrance.

Victor stared in wonder as everyone just seemed to quiet down and make a path for Oleana by just looking at her.

_ "Man, she really does give off such a menacing aura."  _ Victor admired.

They walked inside the restaurant, and Victor saw a bright blue theme among the place. But what caught his eye was the large window in the back of the room, giving a view of Hulbury Stadium.

"Ah, Victor! Let's celebrate your recent  _ Victor- _ y. Get it?" Chairman Rose chuckled from one of the back tables.

Victor purposely ignored his joke while glancing over at him, instead taking note of the restaurant's lack of people. There was the restaurant staff in the place, but there wasn't anyone else besides Chairman Rose and Sonia in the back.

_ "Wait a minute, Sonia?" _ Victor processed.

The ginger beauty turned her head and noticed Victor come in with Oleana, making her smile as she stood up from her seat.

"Heya, Victor! Good to see you again!"

Victor's eyes lit up as he dropped his backpack and ran over to her.

"Soniaaaaa!!"

The intelligent woman was caught off guard as the trainer jumped with his arms open, embracing her in a tight hug.

"Wha-!? What's this all of a sudden!?" Sonia exclaimed as she backed up, nearly falling over but holding Victor with a laugh.

She let go of him and Victor landed on his feet, gazing up at her with stars in his eyes.

"I had one of the most  _ amazing _ days ever!"

"Well, apparently it must have been if it led you to jump at me like that." Sonia giggled.

"Ah, sorry. Got too excited." Victor laughed while rubbing the back of his head. He normally wouldn't have her greeted in such a manner, but after finding her Milotic and knowing that he was closer to making the woman happy, he couldn't help express his excitement for her the way he did.

"Well, aren't you two lovely?" Chairman Rose softly smiled. "Warms my heart."

Victor then turned his attention to Rose, approaching him eagerly. "Hey, Rose! there's so much I wanted to ask you ab- Wait, what are you wearing?"

Victor saw Rose's absurd getup and couldn't help but stare in a look that basically asked, 'are you serious?'

Rose took off his sunglasses and smiled proudly, "It's my disguise for when I go out in public. What do you think? Does it obscure my presence well?"

Sonia and Oleana both turned away with sighs.

"Rose, that's absolutely the worst disguise I've ever seen... And I haven't even seen any in my entire life."

_ "Oof."  _ Sonia sweatdropped with an awkward laugh.

"Is... Is it really that bad?" Rose asked him, letting out an awkward chuckled of his own.

"Yup, and there isn't even a point for a disguise if you're gonna have Oleana beside you at all times, you should've thought of it more." Victor added.

The secretary nodded in agreement next to Rose, now typing away on a laptop.

"Ouch." Rose uttered out. "I do appreciate your honesty, though."

He then grabbed the menu by the side of the table, "Well, for now, how about you tell us what is it you did today while we order?"

"Can I have my pokemon out? I wanna show them all to Sonia." Victor asked, hopefully.

"But of course, be my guest."

"Well, I can already see one of them." Sonia giggled.

The group turned to Victor's backpack on the ground to see Tesla sleepily crawling out, having been stirred when his trainer tossed down his bag.

"Charja?" He sleepily gazed up at them.

"Whoops."

** ~{A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"And then I actually knocked the girl's Chewtle right off the edge and into the water below!" Victor explained as a waitress walked away with the group's menus.

Twilight was perched behind Victor's chair, Midori was sitting on Victor's shoulders with flowers around him from the pure happiness of evolving, Tesla was sleeping on Victor's lap, and Ace was actually standing away from the group, gazing out the large window with his hands in his pouch.

Victor had spent several minutes explaining what kind of day he had to the adults. He explained going with Nessa for her modeling shoot, riding atop a pokemon (although leaving out that it was a Milotic), explained to Sonia what troubles Nessa went through, and even said that he and Nessa 'hung out' in a few places to just have fun. He would've just said they went on a date, but he remembered what Nessa told him about mentioning it like that, so he referred it as something different.

"So... It sounds like you've really helped her." Rose felt glad, yet put on a sad smile. "It appears that I've caused some unnecessary stress for Nessa. I didn't mean to make her feel so conflicted."

"At least she's fine now! And then she went on that  _ huge _ winning streak!" Victor gleamed.

Sonia looked baffled as she stared at Victor, shocked to learn just how much he had done for just one day. After hearing just how insecure Nessa was and pinpointing what caused it, he was easily able to help her get back on her feet. Sonia was her bestie, yet she was only able to offer some words of advice that didn't even seem like they helped the model.

"Wow... You're pretty amazing."

Victor turned to her looking flattered, "Heh, am I really? I think you would've said the same things if you were there."

Sonia smiled, "You think the best out of everyone, don't you?"

"Maybe I do." Victor grinned back.

_ "He really seems to 'bring out' the best out of everyone too... I wonder if that's how Gym Challenger Hop and Gloria stay strong?" _ Chairman Rose thought as he stared at Victor with a proud smile.

"Anyways..." The Chairman turned to Sonia. "How is Professor Magnolia getting along?"

Sonia turned to him rather surprised.

"Why bring up my grandmother all of a sudden?"

Rose folded his hands, "Well, I'm quite indebted to her, you know? She was the one who figured out the power of Wishing Stars and to use that power to Dynamax pokemon. We never would ever have been able to create Dynamax Bands without her."

"Wait, she was!? I thought she only studied Dynamax energy for a while! I didn't know that she basically  _ discovered _ dynamaxing! That's amazing!" Victor exclaimed, leaning forward in his chair in awe.

Sonia couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows and put on a small pout.

"*sigh* Gran's doing fine..."

Victor picked up on annoyance in Sonia's tone, making him turn to her with an eyebrow raised.

"Any progress with her work?" Chairman Rose asked the professor-in-training, not picking up on Sonia's tone.

Sonia twirled her hair while trying not to look irritated.

"She just keeps saying things like there's still so much we don't know about dynamaxing. It's making her feel worried, so she made me take a Power Spot Detector with me when I started traveling..."

"Power Spot Detector?" Victor tilted his head.

Sonia giggled, "I thought the name would be self-explanatory. It's a device that  _ detects _ Power Spots. Locations that emit Galar particles and allow pokemon to Dynamax."

"Er, I already had an idea of what it did, but I'm just curious why Professor Magnolia seems paranoid enough to have you take it?"

That made Sonia's smile slowly fade, then having her put on a small frown.

"Well-"

Suddenly, the lights in the restaurant started flickering, and there were many loud, ominous sounds in the distance.

"Huh!? What's going on!?" Victor glanced up at the lights struggling to stay on.

He and his pokemon then looked outside the window, and their eyes widened as they saw not just their lights flickering, but Hulbury's lighthouse, lamps, stadium, and homes all either had flickering lights or have appeared to have been turned off entirely.

He heard some panicking cries in the distance and watched as the people outside stopped and stared around at their surroundings.

Soon the entire city turned pitched black for a few seconds, and after a couple more, everything turned back on almost as if nothing had happened.

"A... A blackout?" Victor mumbled, stunned that this just happened.

Oleana and Sonia didn't look too surprised by the blackout, both just frowned to see it happen.

"That's why, Victor." Sonia told him.

"Huh?" He turned back to the assistant.

"It's not about finding Power Spots... it's about detecting how much energy is in them."

Victor's eyes widened, "Then... does that mean that the Power Spot in Hulbury just... lost power for a second?"

"It appears to be the case. We've noticed that it's been happening recently in a few towns." Oleana responded, getting back to typing.

Victor then turned to Chairman Rose, the cheerful man no longer smiling as he stared outside the window with a calm, yet contemplating expression.

Our hero remembered what Rose told him when he first arrived in Hulbury.

_ "But the point is, Spikemuth wasn't supposed to lose its energy for another 1,000 years. And yet, it suddenly lost power and became the wasteland it is today. So who's not to say that the same thing can happen to the rest of Galar? To lose their main source of power and send the region crashing down... I'm afraid of such an event suddenly happening, and I'm worried about it happening any time." _

Victor looked down with a frown.

_ "So it's actually getting worse... Just like he said." _

Chairman Rose turned his head to Sonia, looking more serious.

"Sonia, I hope you can share your findings of the Power Spot Detector when you travel through Galar. And it may be good for you to visit the vault in Hammerlocke. It'll benefit both you and I, as the history preserved there has information that can link to both Galar's legends and possibly the secrets of the Dynamax phenomenon."

"Thank you, I was planning on heading there anyway. And as for the Power Spot Director, I'll have to ask my gran about sharing what we find with you." Sonia answered him.

Victor was now silent as he turned from Rose to Sonia.

_ "It seems that even Sonia is aware of the sudden changes in the Power Spots... I guess it makes sense since Professor Magnolia studies them and Dynamaxing..." _

"We're sorry about the sudden blackout, but your order is ready!" A waitress came, trying to look cheerful despite looking shaken up by the sudden event.

Midori, still on Victor's shoulders, gave his trainer a worried look. Twilight and Ace both narrowed their eyes while Tesla had actually opened up one of his eyes curiously. They all knew things were happening, but not for the better.

_ "And the one helping Rose with that is..." _

Victor glanced back at the Macro Cosmo's president.

"Hey, Rose?"

"Hm?" The Chairman turned to him, forming a reassuring smile as their food was placed in front of them. "What is it, Victor?"

"Can you tell me about Bede?"

"Bede?" Chairman Rose tilted his head to Victor's request.

Victor nodded, "Yeah, I've been kind of curious about him. Because... I heard that he's been in an orphanage, and-"

Rose raised a hand to halt him, giving the boy a big smile. "I understand, Victor. You dearly care about your friends."

_ "I wouldn't say he's my friend..." _

Victor lightly smiled.

_ "Yet." _

"I'll tell you about Bede... once we get started on our meals." Rose chuckled, waving a hand at the seafood presented in front of them all. "I wouldn't want it to get cold, but it seems that your Charjabug is already taking measures to not let it waste, heh."

Victor looked down at what he was talking about and saw Tesla nibbling away at his plate of food in bliss.

"Nom! Nom! Nom!"

"Tesla!!" Victor frowned while placing his hands on his hips.

Tesla looked up at him, looking genuinely confused.

"Charja?"

Victor and his pokemon sweatdropped while Sonia and Rose muffled a laugh.

"Let's order some more." The Chairman offered.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-???}~ **

"Intriguing..."

A man once more stared at his monitor in a dark room, his rainbow  ** R  ** reflecting the light from the screen. However, it wasn't the same room he had been in the previous time, showing that he had moved to a new location. Somewhere... closer to the events going on.

He stared at the subject of interest on the monitor, Victor. 

He was rewatching the boy's fight against Nessa, watching him and his new additions to his team. He watched his Ralts take out two of Nessa's pokemon, then even evolving. Then he watched who he considered being quite a danger, his Charjabug fight with such fierce pressure.

However, what caught the man's eye was something that occurred at the peak of Victor's battle, which he was surprised to see.

He zoomed in on the battle footage right as Victor had Dynamaxed his Charjabug. He saw something barely noticeable from how far the Rotom-cameras were when they recorded, but what he saw was clearly out of the ordinary for normal Dynamaxing. Upon zooming in and rewinding, he got a clear look at what it was.

"His eyes... They changed?" He clicked a few things and watched as Victor visibly winced in pain, his eyes turning a bright pink for a second before he blinked and they changed back to brown.

He then watched more of the battle while paying attention to Victor, then noticing the veins near his Dynamax Band glow pink for a moment as well.

The man formed an evil smirk.

"I don't believe it... I didn't take Dynamax energy into account. And yet, his body is reacting to it? Amazing... Our first successful product, and he's already producing such amazing data. Now, I wonder... just what  _ is _ this energy doing to his body?"

He pressed a button on his desk connected to a small speaker and waited a few seconds before someone picked up.

He heard furious flipping and typing over the phone. * _ Is this important, sir? I was in the middle of my research. _ *

The man just chuckled, "You're always in the middle of research, Colress. Our precious test subject has shown some interesting new... 'developments.'"

* _ Ooooo! About subject V-49, you say? _ * He heard the one named 'Colress' stop his movements and give his full attention. * _ I'm assuming you need me to look into it since you lost your leading researcher? _ *

"Yes... I know your main priorities of research revolve around bringing out the strength of pokemon, but-"

* _ Say no more! I've actually been looking into the boy already! I've watched his battles and have gotten extremely curious by how tremendously strong his pokemon are! It makes me wonder if any of his supernatural abilities contribute to that? Or is it the deeper connections he's able to obtain with pokemon from being able to speak to them!? Oh, the possibilities!" _

The man chuckled, "Well, then. Have you seen his latest battle? It's just occurred earlier today."

* _ Hmm... I can't say I have. I've been too engrossed by my other research on controlling some pokemon. Is this battle where these, 'developments' took place? _ *

"Yes, it appears that his body reacts to Dynamax energy."

* _ Oh, really? Dynamax energy you say? Then it looks like I'm flying to Galar! I can't wait to observe the boy and see the strength of his pokemon grow! Hopefully, I'll get a better idea of his strength by asking him!" _

The man raised an eyebrow. "By asking-?"

* _ Well, it looks like I'd better get going if I want to make the most of my time! I'll call you once I get some data! Until next time! _ *

He then hung up, leaving the leader of Team Rainbow Rocket in silence.

Despite rudely hanging up, the leader just chuckled.

"Oh, Colress, you and your quest for research... But approaching the boy? Really? I suppose it doesn't matter, he knows we're watching him at all times anyway. Colress' only goal is the pursuit of knowledge, so maybe if Victor knows this, he'll accept his company?"

He shrugged and got back to watching Victor's match, replaying the moment he Dynamaxed several times.

"Grow... Keep growing, Victor."

He formed another evil grin.

"Become what we need you to be."

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile- The Captain's Table}~ **

"So, now that we're in the middle of our  _ delicious _ meal, what would you like to know about Bede?" Rose asked before stuffing some food into his mouth.

Victor placed Tesla onto another table for his pokemon to eat, then sitting back down. "Well, just... anything about him. How about starting from when you met him?"

"Ah, yes, such a wonderful time." Rose gently smiled. "I met him in an orphanage several years ago, I was there to donate gifts and toys for the children. They flocked to me like Combees to a hive, and yet... there was one child who remained at a distance."

"Bede didn't like you?" Victor immediately guessed.

"Frankly, I don't think he liked anyone." Rose chuckled once again, reminiscing of the time. But then his smile partially fell as he continued to remember the event. "The children all said... 'things.' You know how it is? They just speak whatever is on their mind. And for Bede... They had a lot to say."

He leaned back in his chair and looked back at the time. "Apparently, he was the only orphan there whose... parents actually didn't want him."

Victor felt something break in him.

"Everyone else lost their parents one way or another... But Bede was abandoned. And whenever those children tried to talk to him, he would always end up fighting with them. I never did know why... I probably would've asked him at the time, but I saw something else that captivated me. I saw a fire in his eyes like no other, someone who wished to prove himself to the world, so..."

He tilted his head with a bigger smile.

"So I gave him a pokemon. It turned out that he has quite the talent for pokemon battles after watching him fight some of my staff, so I decided to keep tabs on him. He was a child that just didn't know what direction to take with his life, so I guess I led him into pokemon battles. Young Bede himself was the one who requested to take on Gym Challenge for me, so I endorsed him."

"So, you really like Bede?" Victor smiled.

"He reminds me a bit of myself when I was younger... So I supported him any way I could. I even enlisted him into a Trainer's school to help him hone his skills. Sadly, I wasn't able to visit him during those years after I enrolled him, I'm quite a busy man. But I'm glad that he's grown up so well. Heh, I didn't even recognize him when I saw him here in Hulbury. He's a rather strong trainer who may even give you a run for your money, Victor."

_ "I COULD tell him that I've already beaten him, but that'd be rude." _ Victor innocently smiled.

But then he looked puzzled.

"Wait, but... do you know how Bede was growing up? Did he tell you about his life before going into the orphanage and how he did in school?"

"Er... Not really. Like I said, we met again just yesterday after so many years." Rose awkwardly chuckled.

_ "But that's what I wanted to know the most!" _ Victor deadpanned.

He sighed but formed a smile yet again,  _ "Oh well... At least I have an idea about Rose's relationship with Bede." _

Oleana stood up from her seat, checking the time.

"I believe it is time to get going, Chairman."

Rose glanced up at her looking disappointed, "What? But I've hardly had a chance to get to know Victor more!"

"You still have a lot to do, so we must be off." Oleana said without much care.

"Don't worry, Rose, we'll see each other again!" Victor smiled assuredly.

Rose sighed but formed a small smile. "I guess it can't be helped. If something needs to be done, there's no time like the present to do it."

He sat up and reached in his pocket for his wallet.

"Don't worry about paying, Chairman. I've already paid for the entire meal and included a tip." Oleana said.

"Oleana... You really have to let me treat you some time." Rose chuckled.

"Don't bother, please. Use your money to continue funding the company's research." His secretary said as she started walking out.

"I'm... not spending  _ that _ much on food..." Rose sweatdropped. "I'm an adult too, you know?"

He stood up and turned back to Victor and Sonia.

"Sorry about the sudden leave. I did enjoy our conversation, Victor. And Sonia, I hope you'll take the chance to check out the Hammerlock Vault! And now, I bid you both farewell!" He said with a polite bow, then taking his leave.

Victor watched him leave and chuckled, "Oh Rose, such a busy guy. Right, Sonia?"

"..."

"Sonia?" Victor turned his head and saw the woman picking at her food with a pout on her face.

"*Sigh* Does he think he's doing me a favor?" She grumbled to herself. "He's right that the vault would be a good place to look for info on the legends, but... Does he really think I need help? I know I'm not my gran, but I can handle this much on my own..."

Victor stared at her as she continued to pick her food, then reaching up and innocently patting her head.

"There, there."

Sonia turned to him with an eyebrow raised, "Erm... What?"

"You don't like being compared to your grandmother, do you?" Victor asked, still gently caressing her head.

Sonia chuckled and reached her hand up, gently removing Victor's hand from her head without acknowledging what he did.

"Well, of course I don't. It's like everyone expects me to be exactly like her. Researching Dynamaxing and all that, looking through Power Spots for the sake of Galar. Don't get me wrong, I do want to help out Galar, but... I want to do my own things too. Like researching the pokemon you and Hop found in the Slumbering Weald, looking into the legends of Galar, and more... I don't want people having the same expectations for me as they do for my gran." Sonia complained, even rolling her eyes.

"Hm, you can't really stop everyone from comparing you to Magnolia, it's like an instinct to them just because you're her granddaughter." 

Victor looked up in thought. 

"It's like people comparing Hop to Leon just because he's the champion's little brother. They expect him to be strong, and I think even Hop expects that he'll be naturally strong like Leon. But from what I've seen when I battled him, he didn't seem to be trying his own thing when fighting, just kind of copying Leon's strategies, only worse."

Sonia stared curiously at Victor as he continued.

"But Professor Magnolia is... well,  _ Professor Magnolia. _ And you're  _ you _ , Sonia. You're not less important, nor more important than your grandmother, everyone is equally important in their own way. So... Just keep doing what you're doing now. The best way to convince people not to compare you to someone amazing is to do something different from the person! And I'm sure figuring out Galar's legends and discovering those new pokemon in the Slumbering Weald will do that!" Victor said with a hopeful smile.

Sonia tilted her head and couldn't help but smile at his positivity.

"You always know how to answer someone, don't you?"

Victor simply shrugged to that.

"Well, thanks anyways, Victor. I'll be fine" Sonia got up from her seat and looked more pumped up. "But on another note, I watched your match with Nessa! You and your pokemon were amazing!"

"Great! So you did keep your promise to watch me!" Victor cheered. "Did you see how awesome Tesla was!? That was the first time I had him battle, and  _ wow _ , was he strong!"

"Yeah, he sure was and yet..." Sonia glanced at Tesla munching through both Rose and Oleana's leftovers, the woman even questioning when he got there.

"He seems so..."

"Lazy? Gluttonous? Adorably annoying?" Victor chuckled.

"Heh, yeah." Sonia giggled as she reached across and rubbed the battery pokemon's head. "How'd you meet the little guy?"

"I took a bath at the pokemon center and he snuck into my bag, eating all my berries."

Sonia paused as she turned to Victor with a look of surprise. "He...  _ All _ of them!? Didn't you have packs of them!?"

"Yup... Rest in pieces, my berries..." Victor comedically cried.

"Nom! Nom! Nom!" Tesla cheerfully continued eating.

"You could at least  _ act _ like you feel bad about it!" Victor fumed.

"Pfft!" Sonia muffled her laugh, then trying to speak. "W-Well anyway, defeating Nessa isn't a small feat. But I'm happier that you helped her out of that depressive phase. So... on my behalf as Nessa's closest friend, thanks, Victor."

"Anytime!" Victor saluted proudly.

"Speaking of being her bestie, I think I'll drop in on her right now while I'm here." Sonia turned to Tesla, who burped with a satisfied sigh. "You can have my leftovers too, if you'd like."

Tesla's eyes flashed as he jumped up.

"Charja!" He landed next to Sonia's plate and immediately got to eating.

"What a cutie." She smirked.

Victor got up from his seat and stood proudly in front of Sonia.

"Well, if you're off to see Nessa, then I think I'll be off to the second Galar Mines!"

"Really? Isn't it kinda dark out, though? You sure you wanna be heading out so late?" Sonia asked him, looking unsure.

"I'll be fine! I feel like I'm behind everyone else, so I wanna catch up!" Victor exclaimed with determination.

"Hm, in that case, I guess I should tell you this. Supposedly, Motostoke's Gym Leader, Kabu, is in Galar Mines No.2 as we speak, so no one is taking on his gym. If you happen to see him in the mines, then try to bring him back to his gym so you can face him tomorrow, alright?" 

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Please don't say that... It makes me feel old..." Sonia muttered with a comedic aura of depression around her.

"Er, then okey dokey!" Victor changed.

Sonia smiled again as she removed Victor's beanie and gently rubbed his head with a big smile. "I can't wait to see how much stronger you become. Good luck, little Gym Challenger!"

Besides a now sleeping Tesla, Victor's pokemon stared at him as he got his hair gently fondled, then turning to each other.

"Kirl? Kirl?" (You think she sees him as a man?)

"Cor/Raboot." (Nope.)

Midori turned back forward. "Kirlia" (Me neither)

He smiled. 

"Kirl" (Yet)

Ace and Twilight turned to him with their eyes narrowed.

"Kirl?" (What?) He shrugged.

* * *

** ~{Outside-A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Bye, Sonia!! Say hi to Nessa for me!" Victor waved to the ginger walking down the street.

Sonia just waved back with a smile, leaving the boy behind to get back on his adventure.

"Now then..."

Victor glanced down at his pokemon on the ground, watching as Ace and Midori actually worked together to carry Tesla.

"Let's get back to our adventure!" The boy exclaimed energetically.

"Raboot,  _ boot _ , Raboot." Ace replied with a frown.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll carry him in my backpack..." Victor awkwardly chuckled as he took off his backpack and opened it up, allowing Ace and Midori to just toss Tesla into the opening.

He put his backpack back on and raised a fist, "Once again, are you guys ready to continue with our adventure!?"

"Kirl!" Midori cheered with a happy expression.

Ace and Twilight just weakly raised a paw/wing, "Ra..." "Cor..."

"You two could be a little more excited..." Victor sweatdropped to the unenthusiastic two.

The group then all made their way to the edge of Hulbury, with Twilight perched on Victor's backpack while Ace and Midori walked beside their trainer. It was a short walk until the group found themselves right in front of the dark entrance of the second Galar Mines. If it weren't for the lanterns that were just inside, then no doubt the entrance would've looked pitch black in the darkness of the night.

Victor and his pokemon stared at the inside of the mines, hearing some eerie sounds from within.

"Welp... Let's go in and find Kabu!" Victor started marching in, with his pokemon cautiously following from behind.

Once inside the mines, the group saw quite a beautiful spectacle. A few bright lanterns were lighting up the dark areas, but as the first Galar Mines, some crystals brightened the area with each of their unique colors. All the lights mixed to create a purple light throughout the entire cave, making a big smile appear on Victor's face.

"Cool!" He unintentionally shouted.

_ "Cooool!!" _ His voice echoing in the dark cave.

"Oh! I don't know why I didn't do this in the first mines!"

Victor cupped his hands around his face. "Helloooooooo!"

_ "Hellooooooooooo!" _

"Heh, heh." Victor chuckled, amused by the sounds.

He looked to see his three awake pokemon, staring at him with blank expressions.

"Oh, sorry. Let's um... move on."

The group made their way deeper into the mines with Victor leading the pact. They saw a variety of pokemon on their way through, such as Shellos, Noibats, and Binacles. Surprisingly, these pokemon weren't as aggressive as the wild pokemon Victor had encountered before, and most of them ended up just going into hiding when they saw him coming.

"This is... pretty relaxing. This place looks really beautiful." Victor stare around in awe.

Ace couldn't help but nod in agreement as Midori's eyes became sparkles, staring at all the crystals they came across. Twilight even found himself leaning off Victor's backpack, staring at the sparkly objects with twinkles in his eyes.

And walking through these mines alone gave Victor the chance to talk about something.

"Hey... guys?"

His pokemon were snapped out their trances and looked at their trainer.

"Cor?" 

"During our battle, I felt something... Well, when I Dynamaxed Tesla, that is. It felt like... something was coursing through me."

Ace tilted his head confusingly.

Victor pulled down his sleeve and admired his Dynamax Band, recalling the previous two times he's used it.

"The first time I Dynamaxed, it felt like something warm went through me. I thought it was normal at first, but when I Dynamaxed Tesla today, I felt that same warm feeling, yet it seemed to start... stinging."

Twilight narrowed his eyes as he leaned over Victor's shoulder to peer down at the Dynamax band.

"I mean, if I was just a normal person, then I wouldn't think too much on it, but since it's  _ me _ we're talking about..." Victor stopped walking entirely and raised his arm, examining his Dynamax band. "I can't help but think that something's wrong... Was it really normal to feel that 'jolt' at the time?"

His pokemon remained silent, unsure how to address this concern from their trainer. After all, they didn't know much about Dynamaxing itself other than it made pokemon larger and stronger for a short period. That, and the same Dynamax energy is what's used to power up all of Galar. But other than that, they didn't know much, so they really didn't know what to say.

However, someone else interrupted the group before they could even think of anything.

" _ You _ again..."

Victor raised his head, and his eyes widened to see that he had ended up in a rather clear area with a few paths to take. But more importantly, coming out of one of these paths was a familiar boy with platinum hair, glaring at him.

Victor's pokemon scowled upon seeing the boy, but their trainer's eyes brightly shined so much that he seemed to light up the area.

"Bede!! It's so good to see you again, buddy!" Victor hurried over to him with a happy expression, forgetting what he was just talking about.

Cross-veins of irritation popped on Bede's head as Victor approached him. "Don't go talking to me like we're friends! I already told you before, I only intend to show you how pathetic you are!"

"Oh,  _ you. _ You're such a... Nice guy..." Victor sighed.

"And you're annoying." Bede responded with a growl.

" _ Anyway _ , how have ya been? Did you get your water badge from Nessa like I did?" Victor got cheerful again.

"Hmph, of course, someone as important as I wouldn't lose to some Gym Leader." Bede scoffed, brushing his hair back a little.

"Nice! I knew you were pretty strong! Oh, hey! Look at this!" Victor reached into his bag and pulled out his league card, showing it happily to the boy. "I made my league card based on that pose you did when we first met!"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking about?" Bede scowled, getting close and snatching the card from Victor to take a look.

Only for cross-veins to form all over his head as he saw the pose Victor had.

He turned back to him, "Are you  _ mocking _ me?"

Victor could sense a hostile feeling around Bede.

"Er..." He tilted his head, "No?"

"Then what the hell is this!?!" Bede snapped, basically shoving the card back to show Victor his card.

"Eh? I don't know what you mean, Bede! I thought it was cool!" Victor pouted as he glanced down at his own card.

"You  _ will _ change that card!" Bede pointed at him with a glare. 

"But why!?" Victor whined.

"Because I absolutely hate it!" Bede complained.

"But  _ you're  _ the one that made this pose!"

"I do  _ not _ look that foolish!"

"I think you just insulted yourself!"

"ARGH! For the love of god!" Bede clutched his head in frustration as he turned his back to Victor.

Victor's pokemon all couldn't help but muffle their laughs.

Bede turned back around to Victor while pulling out a pokeball.

"I'm not in the mood to deal with weaklings right now, but you're  _ really  _ pissing me off!"

"Whoa, whoa! Hold on, Bede! I really didn't mean to make you angry!" Victor said as he backed up with his hands up in surrender.

"Tsk! I still have to put you in your place after last time! Just because you got lucky, you must think you're better than me! If you're under the misguided impression that you're stronger than me, then  _ surely _ you would be up for a pokemon battle! Wouldn't you?"

Victor couldn't help but frown at the situation.

_ "He's trapping me with words... He's provoking me, and if I backed out of it, then it would be like admitting that he's stronger than me. Which he probably wouldn't let me live down unless I did fight him..." _

He then grinned.

_ "But then again, I have no reason to turn down a pokemon battle!" _

Victor took off his backpack and adjusted his beanie as he shouted;

"Naturally!!"

Bede made a smug grin as if he had already won, brushing his hair back more.

"It's utterly inconceivable that I, the challenger chosen by the chairman, will lose!"

"Er, but didn't you already lose to me the first time we battled?"

Bede stared at him with a blank expression.

"..."

He then tossed his pokeball.

"Go, Solosis!"

_ "He ignored me!?!"  _ Victor deadpanned.

* * *

** ~{Hulbury Stadium-Private Room}~ **

"Sonia! It's so good to see you again!" Nessa laughed as she hugged her bestie.

"Heh, but didn't we just meet a few days ago?" Sonia chuckled as she patted her friend's back.

"A few days feels like a  _ lot _ during the Gym Challenge!" Nessa replied as she let go and backed up with a smile.

Both beautiful women were in one of the many rooms in the Hulbury Stadium, rooms only accessible by staff and specific people. Nessa was one of the people who had a private room in the stadium, not necessarily where she lived, but where she could sleep and hang around. And Sonia was one of the people Nessa had given all access to the stadium, which explained how she easily made it to meet with her.

They walked inside Nessa's room, the walls and ceiling with a sea-blue color while the floor was covered with a darker, seafloor blue. The furniture, such as desks, chairs, and wardrobes, were all a pearl-white, and the sheets of her bed had a ripple design on them.

"I didn't expect to see you here! Weren't you off looking through Galar's legends?" Nessa grinned as she walked to her nightstand and checked her hair in a mirror.

Sonia closed the door behind her and cheerfully walked over to Nessa.

"I was, but I was also in the area when I watched your battle with Victor. By the way, it was amazing! You sure didn't let him just walk all over you." Sonia took a seat beside the water user.

"But to think another Ralts would evolve while battling you, that's pretty funny." Sonia giggled.

"Oh, don't remind me..." Nessa pouted as she turned to Sonia and rested her head on her palm with her elbow propped on the desk. "It makes me wonder if  _ my _ weakness is Psychic and Fairy..."

"At least you had a great day with him, didn't you?" Sonia sweetly smiled.

A smile of Nessa's own formed as well. "Did he already tell you about it?"

"Yup! I met up with him right after your battle. We had dinner with Rose and Oleana at the Captain's Table, where he went on such a beautiful tale of an innocent young prince helping the princess of the waters..." Sonia had her hands clapped together against her face with a playful, romantic sigh.

Nessa just chuckled, knowing fully well her bestie was poking fun at her.

"You're making fun at me for seeming like some 'damsel in distress,' but you're completely setting yourself up for me to poke fun at how you named your pokemon."

Sonia flinched, losing some of her composure and awkwardly laughing.

"What? Me? Making fun at you? Of course not! I-I was just really moved listening to Victor's story! Heh, heh..."

"Uh, huh." Nessa smirked.

"Er,  _ anyway _ -" Sonia said, not wishing for Nessa to add any more. "It really sounds like you and Victor got along quickly! I mean, you never really wanted to hang out with any guys because you thought they'd try something with you."

Nessa rolled her eyes, "Don't compare them with Victor, he's just a kid. Hell, he may even be more innocent than a kid. He was everything you said he was, so pure."

"What did you think of him?" Sonia couldn't help but feel interested.

Nessa looked up and thought about it for a moment before speaking clearly.

"He's like that one close cousin that comes running to you for a hug when you visit."

"PFFT!" Sonia burst out laughing, "No kidding! He did just that when I met up with him earlier!"

The two then shared a laugh together, appreciating the perfect image given to the boy.

"Heh, but I didn't really expect him to be as great as you said he'd be. Did you know he can even do hair?" Nessa buried her fingers into her hair and turned her head to show Sonia the clips. "My hair got messed up after the photo session, but despite having only taken a few glances at it earlier, Victor was able to fix it to be nearly the same as how I make it!"

Sonia was surprised, "Really? With  _ your _ hair?"

"Oi! Don't make it sound like my hairstyle is any more complicated than yours!"

"Never said that, but I was actually gonna ask if you think he could mimic my hair?" Sonia asked, twirling her own hair.

"Probably. I wonder if he could do your hairstyle on me and mine on you?"

"Ooo! I would love to see him try! It'd be so cute to see it!" Sonia squealed.

But the ginger suddenly shook her head to get her mind off it.

"Hold on, I'm getting off track, I wanted to get back to your day. Or, well... Just wanted to ask if you'll be alright?"

Nessa took a moment to figure out what she meant, then smiling as she stood up and proudly put her hands on her hips.

"I'll be more than fine, Sonia. I know what to do, and I know what I  _ want _ to do."

Sonia stood up too but forming a sad smile.

"I thought so... I just... Sorry that I wasn't there to help you out."

Nessa just waved it off with a chuckle, "Don't be. You had your own thing to do, and you at least answered my call and gave some good advice."

"I guess I did, but hearing from Victor how he helped you made me realize that... I wasn't really hanging out with you as much as before. And I feel like that's my fault."

Nessa was surprised that Sonia was actually feeling bad about it, noticing in her bestie's eyes.

She gave her a reassuring smile and pat Sonia's shoulder.

"Oh come on, Sonia. We were both busy with our own things. But... I'm really glad to hear you say that. And I'm guessing this means that you're willing to make up for some lost time?"

"Er, well... I'm still going to be working on that little project of mine, but I'd be willing to set aside time to have fun! Just like the old times!" Sonia grinned.

Nessa was visibly excited, "Yup! And this time, with a new, adorable buddy~."

Sonia giggled, understanding what she meant.

"Oh, really? I suppose it would be interesting to have him with us. Maybe we could even invite Hop and Gloria?"

"If you guys want to." Nessa looked up as she said that, her smile getting bigger.

_ "But, I kinda just want to see if I could tease Victor again."  _ She thought, forming a smirk.

* * *

** ~{Galar Mines No.2- 9:13PM}~ **

"Psyshock!" Bede shouted.

"Sol!" His Solisis formed several orbs with purple and blue colors, the spheres floating around him before they were all sent homing in on their target.

"Avoid them using your flight, Twilight!" Victor called happily.

His Corvisquire flapped its wings and twirled around the open area of the cave they were in, avoiding the several small orbs and letting them crash into the walls behind him.

"Now, Pluck him!"

Twilight's beak was enveloped in a glowing white as he zoned in on the Cell pokemon, then ramming it into him.

"Sol!" Solisis was sent flying back, his jelly-like body bouncing off the wall.

"Psybeam!" Bede snapped in irritation.

Solisis spun his body in the air, and his face was directed to Twilight's flight path. "Soooool!!"

He sent a beam of telekinetic energy towards the flying type.

"Soar straight up!"

With one large flap of his wings, Twilight went upward and narrowly avoided the beam.

_ "That was close, he actually predicted where Twilight was going..."  _ Victor thought, knowing he had to be careful around Bede.

"Endeavor!" Bede instructed next as his Solisis landed on the ground.

"Rocks!"

_ "Rocks?" _ Bede repeated in confusion.

"Sooo-OOW!" Solisis was just starting to glow in white to commence his attack but was interrupted by a rock nailing his forehead.

"What the-!?" Bede glanced at Victor's Corvisquire and saw that the raven pokemon was holding a stone in one of its talons, now flying low to the ground and scooping up another rock with its other empty one.

"Dirty  _ cheat _ !" Bede shouted in frustration.

"What do you mean!? Pokemon learn to use their surroundings!"

"Psyshock!" Bede shouted, not acknowledging what Victor said.

"Toss em!" Victor reacted.

Twilight quickly flung the rocks forward, then heading in forward.

"Solosis!" The psychic type formed colorful spheres once more, sending them forward.

However, the rocks Twilight flung collided with two of the orbs, causing a chain reaction that resulted in the others exploding not too far from where Solisis sent them.

"Pluck!"

Twilight used the clouds of dust obscuring Solisis' sight to get close, his beak shining  _ only _ as he got too close.

"Avoi-!" Bede was too late to see him as Twilight connected right into his target.

"SOL!" The green psychic type was sent flying back until he bounced off the wall again, only this time, knocked unconscious.

"Nice, Twilight!" Victor cheered.

"Hmph!" Bede returned his Solisis, "Looks like you've grown a bit. But  _ only _ a little bit, though!"

"Hey, even a little bit of growth is a  _ big _ improvement!" Victor answered with optimism, even giving Bede a thumbs up.

Bede furrowed his brow as he pulled out his second pokeball, then tossing it forward.

Out came his Gothita, the pokemon frowning as well in Victor's direction.

"Gothita!"

Twilight repeatedly fluttered in the air, waiting for any orders.

"Gothita, Psybeam!"

"Goooooooth!" His pokemon fired a beam of pink.

"Do a barrel roll!"

Twilight flew forward and did as instructed, spinning his body while flying in a helical path, avoiding the beam and getting closer.

"Now, use Fury Attack!"

Twilight readied his beak as he got close.

"Rock Tomb!"

Victor was surprised to see Gothita jump and bring several rocks in the air, then sending them all right at Twilight.

His pokemon was too close to avoid this large assortment of stones, so Twilight ended up getting rammed with a good portion before falling to the ground.

"Twilight! You alright!?" Victor called to him.

His pokemon rose from the ground with dirt stains on him, panting as he flapped to get back into the air. Only, his movements were obviously slower than before.

_ "Rock Tomb lowered his speed..."  _ Victor frowned.

"Psyshock!" Bede pointed again.

Several more colorful orbs appeared and were sent towards Twilight.

"Maneuver around them!"

Twilight tried flying passed these orbs, and for the most part, he actually avoided a decent portion of them. However, due to his now reduced speed, some of the small orbs were able to nail him out of the air, causing him to let out a cry and spiral to the ground.

Before he could crash into the ground, Victor returned him into his pokeball with a sad smile, then looking down at it.

"You did well, buddy."

Bede smirked, "It appears you got too full of yourself."

"Wha-  _ me _ ?" Victor stammered, "Have you _ looked  _ at yourself!?"

"Oh, shut it." Bede frowned.

Victor pouted before pointing forward, "Ace, you're up!"

Ace walked forward with his paws in his pouch.

"Hmph, and even using a fire type when you know I have a Super Effective move against him, how foolish."

Bede pointed his palm forward, "Rock Tomb!"

"Gooooth!" Gothia sent more barrages of rocks forward at Ace.

"Agility!"

Ace pulled his paws from his pouch and bolted forward, getting faster and faster as he moved left and right in a blur, avoiding the several stones sent at him.

"Now, Flame Charge!"

While running, Ace's feet caught on fire and spread all around his body, the rabbit narrowing his eyes as he got close.

"Gothita!?" The psychic pokemon didn't expect Ace to suddenly be right in front of her, so she couldn't dodge as he rammed his flaming body into her.

"Combo it off with a Quick Attack!"

"Don't let him!" Bede demanded.

Sadly, Gothita couldn't satisfy his request, as she had been sent flying to the wall, bouncing off it. Then Ace shined white before vanishing from where he had launched Gothita, then suddenly appearing right in front of her in the air.

"Ra-boot!" Ace swung his paw down, bashed it on the psychic type's head, sending her down to the ground.

"Get up and Rock Tomb!" Bede shouted angrily.

Even on the ground, Gothita frantically sent rocks upward.

"Repeatedly Double Kick it all away!" Victor countered.

Ace landed on the wall before jumping off and spinning in the air, his feet kicking away every rock stone that would've hit him.

"Now, Ember!" Victor finished.

Ace stopped spinning and but was positioned with his leg back. Then with one last kick, Ace sent a final stone back at Gothita, one embodied with flames that nailed her forehead.

"Goooooooth..." The psychic type moaned as she fell back, body twitching on the ground, unconscious.

Ace landed on the ground and stuff his paws back into his pouch while his trainer cheered.

"And that's another one in the bag! Good job, Ace!"

Bede returned his second pokemon with a frown, then casually tossing out his third.

This time, a new pokemon Victor hadn't met came out. This one resembled a small pony with chalk-white fur, along with larger, purple-and-blue cloudy mane with the same fur just above its purple hooves, purple eyes with light blue iris, and a small purple-and-white horn on its forehead.

"Ponyta!" The pokemon wailed as it got on his back legs and raised its forward ones with a proud cry.

Victor's eyes sparkled as he squealed, pressing his hands on his cheeks. "Awww! A Galarian Ponyta!? When you'd get that little guy!? Ooo! Its mane looks so fluffy! Can I pet him?! Or her!?"

"Tsk! Shut it, you overgrown child!" Bede growled.

"Okay then..." Victor deadpanned.

Ace sighed.

"Ponyta! Confusion!"

"Pooooony!" Ponyta stomped her hooves on the ground while her horn glowed, then sending a ball of psychic energy forward at Ace.

"Use Agility around it!"

Ace ran to the side in a flash, already dashing around the room and towards Ponyta.

"Fairy Wind!"

"Pony-taaaaaaa!" Ponyta stomped her hooves on the ground and send intense, pink sparkling winds in Ace's overall path.

"Raboot!?" Ace was sent off the ground and blown back towards the wall.

"Use the wall and Flame Charge around!" Victor shouted.

Ace flipped his body and he ignited in flames, landing on the mine's wall with both feet before running against it around the room.

"Fairy Wind again to get him off!" Bede commanded.

"Use Ember to stop him!"

Ace listened and pulled out one of the rocks he kept in his pouch, tossing it up, jumping off the wall, and kicking it in a flame ball right as Ponyta took a deep breath.

"Change to Confusion, quick!" Bede reacted.

Ponyta puffed her face and held her breath, her horn glowing purple before firing a psychic orb that met with the ball of fire, resulting in a collided explosion. Smoke kicked up and obscured the area once more, making Bede narrow his eyes as if trying to gaze through it.

"Use Fairy Wind to clear it out!"

Ponyta released her breath and blew out more colorful winds, dispersing the smoke to reveal Ace running right at him with his body surrounded in flames once again.

"Ram it!" Victor said.

Ace did as he was told and rushed before Bede could even shout, colliding into Ponyta and continuing to push until he drove her against the wall.

"Get him off!"

Ponyta used her hooves to kick Ace back, the rabbit sliding against the ground but still on his feet.

"Now, Confusion!"

Ponyta formed a ball of energy once more.

"Set it off before it fires!"

Ace slid his foot on the ground and kicked a rock right at the ball of psychic energy, resulting in it exploding right in Ponyta's face.

"Poooo..." Ponyta was on its side, unconscious and with swirling eyes.

"Hitting hard as always, Ace!" Victor cheered. "You up for one more?"

Ace nodded as he stepped back from Ponyta, watching her glow blue and returned back into the pokeball of a fuming Bede.

"Grr... Not everyone can corner my team like this..."

"Oo! Is that a compliment!?" Victor asked.

"Hell no!" Bede snapped, pulling out his last pokeball with a threatening glare. "This is where I'm at my strongest! I'll crush your pathetic team once and for all!"

_ "Ouch." _ Victor sighed.

Bede threw his last pokeball and out came his Hatenna, who nervously glanced back at her trainer.

Victor then saw Bede start to calm down while forming a relaxed, if not smug, smile.

_ "Ah, Hatenna's detects the emotions kind of like Ralts... I guess Bede doesn't want to make it uncomfortable." _

Hatenna, feeling Bede calm down despite being infuriated a moment ago, turned back to Victor while jumping up and down.

"Hatenna! Hat!"

"Good! Then use Disarming Voice!" Bede instructed, brushing his hair back as if trying to look elegant.

"Haaaaaaaa!!!" Hatenna fired heart-shaped projectiles from her voice.

"Agility!"

Ace vanished from his spot and appeared out of the way of the projectiles, running towards Hatenna.

_ "That damn rabbit has too many speed inducing moves!"  _ Bede couldn't help but scowl.

To this, his Hatenna stopped and looked back nervously, then scooting away from Bede.

"Ah! Hatenna! Pay atttention-!"

"Flame Charge!"

"Ra-!" Ace blasted forward as Hatenna turned back in shock.

"-Boot!" He used his body once more for his attack, using his elbow to ram into Hatenna's face.

"Mmph!" Hatenna was sent spinning back into the wall, then slamming face-first into it.

"Hatenna!" Bedee shouted in a mixture of shock and anger.

"Aw, shoot! I think you overdid it!" Victor said, knowing fully well that an elbow in the face from a blazing fast pokemon must've hurt like hell.

Hatenna plopped on the wall and was already unconscious from that  _ one _ attack, surprising even Victor while Ace awkwardly backed up.

_ "Man, Ace really did get stronger... But then again, I guess evolved pokemon would have a big advantage over first staged pokemon." _

Bede walked over to his unconscious pokemon and frowned, returning her into her pokeball.

"Erm..." Victor muttered, not sure what to say after all that.

Bede suddenly turned in his direction and pointed right at him with a look of hatred.

"Y-You showed at least a little effort, so I decided to let you win!"

Victor and his pokemon turned comedically black-and-white with straight-faced looks.

_ "Eh?" _

"And it seems I must change some of my words... You're not weak, you just lack talent!"

Cross-veins popped on Victor's head.

"Your chances of completing the Gym Challenge are pretty slim, I must say." Bede added, turning his back to Victor.

More cross-veins emerged on our hero.

"Now... where shall I go collect Wishing Stars nex- OW!" Bede found himself knocked on the back of his head.

He turned around angrily to see Victor had gotten right behind him with a pout.

"What the hell are you doing!?" He scowled.

"Knocking some sense into you!" Victor didn't hesitate. "The  _ first _ thing you did after losing was take a jab at me! Did you not  _ see _ what just happened!? Your Hatenna lost composure because  _ you _ did!? Don't you know it won't warm up to you if you don't have a calm mood!?"

Bede just seemed to growl, "Are you lecturing me!? My Hatenna and I fought well the first time we faced you!"

"Yeah! You were calmer back then! But not this time! You got  _ way _ too irritated!"

Bede just turned around and started walking, "I don't have to listen to this. I'm out of here."

"Wait! Bede, just..." Victor sighed, rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger. "Think of your pokemon more. Wasn't one of them given to you by the Chairman?"

Bede froze in an instant, his head remaining forward.

"Why do you know that?" Victor could detect anger in his voice.

"Well... I learned a few things." Victor admitted. "Like how you didn't get along with the other kids in the orphanage-"

Bede's finger's twitched.

"How Rose signed you up at a trainer school-"

Bede looked down at the ground.

"And how you were the only child whose parents-" Victor clapped a hand over his mouth to stop himself, realizing that it must be a terrible thing to bring up.

But Bede seemed to realize what he was going to say, as his hands already balled into fists. He turned around and marched to Victor with his head down, his eyes easily hidden in the darkness provided in the cave.

"Bede, I-"

But the next thing Victor knew, he was grabbed by the collar and slammed against the wall, now face-to-face with a glaring Bede as his pupils dilated in anger.

"How much have you been snooping around in my life!?!" He demanded to know, his voice of anger echoing in the cave.

Victor's pokemon were shocked by the arrogant boy, then narrowing their eyes as they were about to act. But Victor held a hand up to stop them, starring at Bede with earnest eyes.

"I didn't snoop around anywhere. I met up with Rose and just asked him about you." Victor answered Bede in a calm but serious tone.

That actually made Bede seemed to panic a bit, shaking Victor as he shouted, "What did you tell him about me!?"

Victor didn't like being shaken, so both of his hands grabbed Bede's wrists, squeezing them threateningly and causing the boy to stop.

"Let. Go."

Bede felt a chill in his spine, watching as Victor's eyes seem to fade their brown color. His expression turning blank, but gave off a threatening vibe.

He released Victor and backed up cautiously, the boy dusting himself off and blinking to return the brown in his pupils.

"Okay." Victor started, adjusting his beanie. "I didn't tell him anything other than I knew you. We talked about a few things. Like when I asked him to tell me about you, he told me what I brought up just a moment ago, with other things."

Bede raised an eyebrow.

"He told me he saw something in you that he didn't see in others. He told me that you remind him of himself when he was young, and... He's glad you grew up so well, even if he wasn't there to see you through it."

Victor formed a small smile.

"He cares about you, Bede."

He then saw something form on Bede, the corners of his mouth moving up. He didn't see it all the way through as the trainer turned around with his back facing him.

"I... see..."

Victor heard what he assumed was a breath of relief.

"Good... I have to keep making him proud."

He started walking deeper into the mines.

"Until next time, Gym Challenger."

Victor curiously watched Bede as he walked away, another smile forming as he thought about how the boy acted.

_ "He just really wants to make Rose proud? Doesn't he?" _

Midori walked up to Victor, looking up with some worry.

"Kirl? Kirlia?" He asked about Bede putting him against the wall.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine." Victor answered, giving him a reassuring smile.

Ace narrowed his eyes at Bede while Victor quickly went back and grabbed his backpack, being careful to put it on so he wouldn't shake Tesla awake.

Victor then cheerfully ran after him.

"Hey, Bede! Wait up!"

"Don't follow me!" Bede's voice echoed deeper in the mines.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu shuts both doors on both sides and lowers monitor)
> 
> *Gasp!* So we have our first out-of-region character actually introduced!? Well, not formally, I guess. But it's clearly that he may find out what's happening to ya boy! I wonder if this new character will be able to find something out about him? And hm, we've learned quite a bit about Bede, haven't we? I wonder how Victor is gonna deal with someone like him? I wonder what'll happen next time? Who is he going to meet? How much longer is he going to spend in the mines? Ooooh boy I can't wait!
> 
> (Power shuts down and doors open.)
> 
> ...
> 
> (Hears a jingle and turns left to see blinking lights of a face.)
> 
> ...
> 
> (Shrugs)
> 
> Even if they stuff me in a suit, will it even do anything to me?


	17. Nighttime Meetings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu walks through a dark forest with tall trees all alone, shining a flashlight ahead.)
> 
> Well, this is creepy. Can't say I enjoy walking around here even if I'm a ghost type. But anyway, so last time on ya boy's adventure, Victor had a nice meal with Galar's Chairman, his blunt uncaring secretary, and the ginger beauty. It went well, but... Shouldn't that blackout have meant something? Oh, then Victor met with Bede in the mines, then they battled! Of course, he beat him, because pfft it's Victor, after all? But what' gonna happen now? Who else are they gonna meet in the mines? Let's see how the story progresses.
> 
> (Seeing a tree with a paper on it.)
> 
> Hm?
> 
> (Rag hand reaches and picks it up, reading it.)
> 
> "You Suck."
> 
> ...
> 
> Motherfu-

**~{Galar Mines- 9:45PM}~**

"Watch your step." Victor pointed.

"Wha-? I-I mean, I can obviously see it!" Bede snapped, narrowly avoiding stepping on a sleeping Galarian Stunfisk camouflaged on the ground.

"To your left." Victor casually pointed again.

Bede nearly tripped as he frantically stopped his foot and turned his body to avoid another Stunfisk.

"You're welcome."

"No, thank you! I saw it already!" Bede shouted again.

"Uh-huh." Victor sighed as he and his pokemon rolled their eyes, knowing that wasn't the case.

Bede and Victor continued to walk deeper into the Galar Mines No.2, the innocent young man following the arrogant teen through the beautiful areas illuminated by crystals. They've been walking for about five minutes since their battle, and Bede was already getting irritated once more.

"Would you stop following me!?!" The platinum-haired teen fumed.

"Oh come on, Bede. I've got to follow this path to get through the mines too! Plus, all your pokemon are knocked out, so it'd be dangerous if you got into trouble without them!" Victor told him.

"I don't need you here! If you don't have any Wishing Stars, then I have no use of you!" Bede huffed, marching ahead.

Victor just continued to follow him as Ace and Midori followed behind with frowns.

"I didn't find any yet... But maybe I can right now!"

"Hmph, as if. I've already spent the entire day looking through every corner of these mines. I doubt you'd find any before I did." Bede scoffed.

There was a moment of silence between the two, with Victor looking around him to see if he could somehow conveniently spot any Wishing Stars.

"So... Bede? How _was_ trainer school for you?" Victor asked curiously.

Bede just remained silent, continuing to walk.

Victor focused on Bede with a frown, but his stare turned into a curious look as he saw the boy have a familiar golden watch.

"Hey, doesn't Rose have that same watch? Did you get it from him?"

Bede stopped and turned around, pointing at Victor with a glare.

"Stop. It." He demanded slowly. "Stop trying to get to know me like we're friends!"

"Oh, come on!" Victor pouted. "I don't get why you're so caught up in rejecting my friendship!"

"Who the hell even says it like that!?" Bede shouted back with cross-veins popping out.

"Do you even have _any_ friends!?" Victor continued.

"I don't need them! They would only slow me down, they'd get in the way of what's important! I have to find the Wishing Stars, I have to win this Gym Challenge for the Chairman, for Galar! I don't need any distractions!! The Chairman chose _me_ out of everyone to endorse! So I'm the most important, and I don't need someone giving some half-assed friendship because of that!"

Victor was stunned by his words. "Huh? What do you mean!?"

Bede was already back to marching ahead.

"Wait! Where did that come from!?" Victor walked after him.

"Shut it, challenger." Bede panted, looking more pissed than ever. "I shouldn't have wasted any time on you in the first place. Just leave, me, alone."

Victor's walking slowly came to a stop, watching in a mixture of sadness and frustration at the boy ahead.

_"Geez... He really is something."_

Midori went beside Victor and nudged him. "Kirl... Kirla."

"I know I'm probably getting a little too nosy to know about his life... But how else am I supposed to figure out what's wrong? He's one of the most stubborn people I know!"

"Raboot?" Ace narrowed his eyes.

"...Okay, so maybe I don't really know _too_ many people, but still! I can tell that he really is too stubborn! And it's not good to be stubborn about not making friends!"

Victor started to hurry ahead, realizing that Bede disappeared around the corner of the path.

"Let me through you brutes!"

Victor turned the corner and saw two Team Yell male grunts in front of Bede, blocking his path.

"Ha! As if, mate!" One of the Team Yell grunts shouted with a grin.

"Yeah! We ain't lettin' ya through here! If anythin', we're gonna knock ya right out of this Gym Challenge for our Marnie!" The other grunt yelled, pulling out his pokeball.

Bede backed up with a glare, knowing fully well his pokemon were already knocked out.

"Oi! Wait, wait, wait!" Victor quickly rushed forward and got between Bede and the grunts. "What gives!?"

Both grunts were shocked to see him.

"Oi! It's the lad who casually held our Marnie's hand in that Inn!" One of them pointed at Victor in anger.

"Ya perverted bastard! Marnie's never held hands with anyone but Piers!" The other grunt shouted.

"Eh?" Victor blinked with a straight expression.

"We wanted to knock off any challengers walzin' up here, but now we've got the chance to off this lad! Get em'!"

Victor raised his hands in surrender, "Wait, hold on-!"

"Thievul, rip em' apart!"

"Linoone, Night Slash!"

Both grunts tossed their pokeballs and out came out the Fox pokemon Theivul and the Rushing pokemon Linoone, both of them jumping right at Victor with growls.

"Guys!" Victor called.

His two pokemon were already on it. Ace jumped forward while Midori stayed back and took a deep breath.

"Ra-BOOT!" Ace swung his legs and performed a Double Kick right onto the Linoone, the four times super-effective fighting move knocking the pokemon back in immense pain.

"KirliAAAAAAAAAA!!" Midori performed a Disarming Voice, firing off a wave of pink hearts right at the Thievul and knocking it back as well.

Both dark types instantly crashed back on the ground, completely unconscious, unable to take the super-effective attacks.

"Ah, this is pants! He's got type advantages!" One of the grunts shouted.

"Don't worry, we both got another pokemon!" The other said.

They both tossed returned both unconscious pokemon and tossed out two more.

"Go, Liepard!"

"Come on out, Pancham!"

The Cruel pokemon and Playful pokemon both came out.

"Lie!"

"Pan!"

"Fury Swipes!"

"Low Sweep!"

Liepard leaped forward with its claws out while Pancham ran on the ground with a grin.

"Again!" Victor shouted.

Ace jumped up at the Liepard and flipped over him, swinging his legs and kicking it down with a powerful slam.

"LAAAAAAAAAAA!!!" Midori fired another beam of hearts at the Pancham, the double super-effective attack knocking it down.

Both pokemon were unconscious as fast as they had come out.

The grunts nervously returned their pokemon.

"W-We got floored..."

Victor sighed before turning his head left, "Bede, you alri-?" He stopped as he noticed that the boy had completely disappeared. "What the-!? Did he leave while we fought!? Oh, come on!"

He gave up trying to rush ahead to follow him, knowing that he needed to address the two males of Team Yell in front of him.

"So..." He turned to the grunts and crossed his arms with a pout. "Sit."

Both grunts got on their knees in a nervous, respectful stance.

"I know you guy's like Marnie and all, but really!? Just lashing out to me because I held her hand!?"

That actually seemed to make them angry.

"Huh!? What are ya saying, ya bloke!? No one's ever touched our Marnie but Piers! But then ya just _grabbed_ her hand like it was nothing, even though ya didn't know anything about her!"

"Okay... Look, I see you're saying that I might've been a little too casual with Marnie even though we just met, but I still think you guys are overthinking it. I mean, didn't Sonia hold her hand too?"

"That's different! It was clear that it was a formal handshake! You just went all up on Marnie and grabbed her!" One of the grunts snapped.

"Er, I think that sounds a wee bit disturbing, saying it like that..." The other grunt told his friend.

Victor facepalmed and let out a sigh. "You guys... What's this really about?"

The two curiously tilted their heads with question marks.

"I refuse to believe that you're really attacking me for holding her hand. So can you guys tell me what's _really_ wrong?"

Both grunts stood up, "Huh? What makes ya think we have any other reason-!?"

"I'm gonna have to tell Marnie you guys came after me..."

"PLEASE DON'T!!" Both grunts bowed to Victor all the way to the ground.

"Well? Then what's the actual reason?" Victor tapped his foot and crossed his arms as he waited.

Both grunts nervously sat up.

"We... We're just worried you'll make Marnie sad..." One of the grunts confessed.

"Yeah..." The other agreed.

Victor raised an eyebrow, "Huh? What makes you think I'll make her sad?"

"Not just you... We were thinking the same about the others... The champion's little brother, that scary lassie, and that tall ginger babe."

"But... why?" Victor asked in genuine concern, sitting down to be at the same level as the Grunts.

Both looked down at the ground as they spoke.

"Our Marnie ain't... She ain't ever had a friend outside of Spikemuth. When we followed her out as she went to take on that dang old Gym Challenge, we started hearing wankers saying all sorts of pants about her. Everyone looked at her like she was bad... Team Yell is used to the looks and words, but ain't _nobody_ should be thinkin' of our precious Marnie like that!" Grunt one said.

Victor couldn't help but feel both sad and angry as he thought about people being so judgemental, but he moved on to ask a question. "And... did you think the same about my friends and I?"

The second grunt answered. "We were thinking ya were like all those other folks, judgin' bastards... And we thought ya were tricking Marnie by actin' nice."

The trio remained in silence as Victor maintained a neutral expression on his face.

Then the corners of his mouth went up.

The grunts felt their heads get gently rubbed, looking up in shock to see a radiantly shining Victor giving them a reassuring smile.

"You guys really care about Marnie, don't you?" He asked in a calm, soothing tone.

Their eyes widened as they felt genuine warmth from him.

"I haven't known Marnie for too long, so I understand that you guys don't trust me or my friends. But know that I wouldn't do anything to make her sad... The last thing I'd want is to make her feel down." 

He removed his hands and backed up, looking down now.

"I know about Spikemuth... And I know Team Yell ain't bad. You're passionate for your home, and all of you really care about Marnie, maybe a little _too_ much. But I care about her too like I do for anyone else, I already think of her as a friend. And _as_ a friend, I promised her that we'd get along, so I intend to keep that promise. I give my word that I'll take care of her, make her happy, and make sure that everyone knows that not just her, but all of Team Yell really do belong in Galar."

The grunts stared in awe as Victor's sincerity seemed to shine in the dark caves.

"What... What _do_ you think of Marnie?" The first grunt asked him, eyes not moving off the boy.

In an instant, Victor's eyes flashed and he raised a fist, getting super pumped up and excited.

"She's a treasure! The first time we met, she was saying stuff like 'What's going on here?' with a glare, so I thought she was a little scary! But when I tried talking to her, that wasn't the case at all! Instead, she was a good girl who would apologize if she caused you any trouble! On top of that, there's hardly any girls who look that good in studs with a shaved hairstyle! I definitely know that no one could pull off her coordination between a leather jacket and a one piece! Her personality really shines through! Her twinge of an accent is fresh too! Her aura and her sugar sweetness! The way she's not arrogant and undertaking the Gym Challenge with me as an equal! All that just has me like _HNNGGHH!!!_ " He squealed.

Both grunts stared at Victor like he had just descended from heaven, listening to him describe Marnie so perfectly without any hesitation between any of his words.

_"H-He gets it!"_ They both thought.

The two of them turned to each other with stunned expressions.

"Bro, is he-!?" The first grunt started.

"He is, bro!" The second answered.

They both turned back to Victor with stars in their eyes.

"He's a man of culture!!" They shouted in sync.

Both stood up and bowed in 90-degree angles.

"Forgive us for attacking you, our new bro!"

"No problem at all! Let's all cheer for Marnie together!" Victor shouted with his fist up, not minding at all being called 'bro.'

"YEAAAAAH!!!!" The two grunts yelled, pulling out their **Y** -shaped horns and blowing through them.

Ace and Midori stared blankly at the group in black and white, wondering what the hell just happened.

"Bro! Take this!" Both grunts pulled out an extra horn and banner of Marnie. "Use it to cheer on Marnie!"

"THANK YOU BOTH!" Victor shouted in deep appreciation as he received the horn and the banner of the adorable Marnie.

His pokemon facepalmed.

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-East Lake Axewell}~**

"Easy, G-Gloria, calm down now." Hop gently massaged his friend's shoulders as she sat cross-legged with her arms crossed as well. A glare was on her face through some lifeless eyes, still think about watching Nessa casually hug Victor right after he had finished his gym battle.

Luna was sitting on the ground beside her trainer, nervously watching as Hop tried to calm her.

"When did they get so close...? When did they get so close...? When did they get so close...?" The girl repeated several times.

"Oh, come on, Gloria. We both know that Victor can get along with anyone! So him becoming friends with Nessa shouldn't be a surprise!"

Some of Gloria's color returned in her eyes, but she pouted.

"I know, but... This was one of the reason's why I wanted to stick with him through Galar..."

"Because you're worried he'll get close to another girl?" Hop questioned with the role of his eyes.

Gloria shot to her feet, catching Hop off guard as he nervously stepped back. 

"Yeah! Victor's the only good guy around-!"

"Not true, and I'm kinda offended, but carry on." Hop waved it off, not looking too fazed by her claim.

"S-So, I'm sure any girl would try to go after him!"

"Then why the bloody hell _haven't_ you confessed to him yet!?" Hop asked, putting his hands on his hips.

Gloria froze, but her legs visibly shook.

"I-I..."

Hop then watched as the girl comedically started crying a waterfall.

"Waaaaaaaaa!!"

"HUH!?! Why are you crying!?!" Hop backed up in shock.

"K-Kirlia!?" Luna cried out in worry.

Gloria started rubbing her eyes, "*Sniff* I-I wanted to tell em'. I wanted ta tell em' so many times... B-But every time I tried I-I-!"

She covered her face with both hands.

"I-I just get really scared... I know Victor ain't really seem the type to like someone like 'that'... All he thinks about is helping people and pokemon, he never gets flustered, and he doesn't think anything when I hug him... S-So it makes me think if I tell him... Th-Then h-he'll just... treat it as if it was nothing or things would change between us!"

"Er, I-I get it, you don't have to force yourself!" Hop frantically said, seeing a depressed aura form around the girl. "So... When _do_ you plan to tell him then?"

Gloria nervously shivered as she sat on the ground again.

"I-I was thinking that after I b-beat him and become champion... Th-Then I would confess right in front of everyone..."

"Huh!?" Hop was shocked at that claim. "In front of _everyone_ !? Won't that just make you even more nervous!?"

"I-I think that by the time I become champion, th-then I'll have enough confidence..."

Hop pouted, "Well, there's something clearly wrong with that!"

Gloria looked up at him, staring intently as she wondered what Hop would say.

The boy pointed a thumb at himself.

" _I'm_ gonna become the champion! Not you! So you need another plan!"

Gloria was straight-faced after hearing him say that.

She then shot up to her feet while looking pissed.

"Huh!? What the bloody hell makes you think _you'll_ become champion!?!"

"Because I wished it!" Hop declared proudly.

"That's it!?! Sorry, but ain't no way you're becoming the champ! That's _my_ job!" Gloria shouted while pointing at herself.

"Aiming to be champion isn't a job! Anyone can go for it! But it'll be me who becomes it! And when I do, and you still haven't confessed, then I'll tell Victor mysel-!"

Hop was cut off as Gloria suddenly tackled him down, both of them created a comedic cloud where punches were being pulled.

"If you do, then I'll KILL YOU!" Gloria shouted in this fighting cloud.

"AGH! UGH! OOF! I think you're already killing me!!" Hop shouted.

"K-K-Kirl?" Luna nervously shivered as she watched her trainer violently let loose on her friend.

"U-Um..."

Gloria and Hop suddenly stopped, the cloud dispersing to reveal Gloria sitting on Hop's back while pulling his leg. The two of them and Luna turned their heads and glanced at who the new voice was, discovering that Marnie was standing there.

The timid girl and the Morpeko in her arms nervously shivered in fear as they saw Gloria tightly holding Hop's leg.

Despite his leg being pulled back in pain, Hop gave a big smile.

"Oh! Hey, Marnie!" He waved to her with a laugh.

Marnie was more nervously focused on Gloria and her tight hold on a _very_ bruised, torn, and overall beat up Hop.

"P-P-Please d-don't k-k-kill him..." She stammered.

Hop and Gloria blinked before their heads turned to each other, then realizing how the situation looked.

"O-Oh!" Gloria jumped off him and frantically flailed her arms, "No! I wasn't-! I mean I kinda-! I didn't do _all_ of that to him!"

Hop shakily got up from the ground and chuckled.

"Don't worry, Marnie. All these injuries were from an Onix." Hop said, pointing at certain areas on his body. "But _these_ injuries-"

"Were from another pokemon!" Gloria cut him off with a nervous smile. "A-Anyway, it's good to see you again!"

Hearing that they actually seemed happy to see her, Marnie perked up, and the horned-tufts of her hair seemed to flutter.

"R-Really?" She asked with a light blush and nervous look.

_"Kawaii!!"_ Hop and Gloria both smiled with their eyes closed, feeling Marnie give off some mysterious warmth.

Luna stared at them with a tilt of her head with a question mark over her.

Marnie's Morpeko chuckled at both trainers' reactions while her own trainer looked around, noticing that two others weren't there.

"Um... Where's Victor... and m-miss Sonia?"

"Oh! Sonia is probably off somewhere looking through Galar's legends. And as for Victor, he just had his _awsome_ battle against Nessa! So he might be sleeping in Hulbury since its kinda late. Which reminds me, Gloria, do you know if Kabu is back yet?"

"Eh? Back?" Gloria turned to him, confused. "He isn't at his gym?"

"I fought him earlier today. He was in his gym." Marnie answered, her expression returning to her usual cold look due to now being composed.

"Aw man, I must've missed him when I came back... Oh wait, you fought him already!?" Hop got excited, putting on a big grin. "Was he _really_ strong."

Marnie got a little nervous again but answered calmly. "Y-Yeah. I'd say he's strong. He got me down all the way to my Morpeko..."

Morpeko proudly smiled in Marnie's arms. "Mor! Mor!"

"Oo! Nice! I can't wait to battle him! I hope Victor gets here and watches me!" Hop jumped with a pumped fist. "Kabu's the main reason a lot of people end up _giving_ _up_ on the Gym Challenge! He's really tough!"

"Well, you prob won't fight him today, it's gettin' kinda late... So maybe we should hit the hay and check tomorrow?" Gloria suggested.

Hop looked a little disappointed. "Yeah, I guess we should... We can head into the Budew Inn again! I really need a shower!" He said, getting excited again.

Morpeko looked up at her trainer with a curious look, as if asking if they would go to bed already.

"I'll go in with ya guys, but I don't think I'm goin' ta bed just yet."

"Well then let's head on to the Budew Inn! Race you two there!" With that, Hop took off running up the stairs that led into Motostoke.

"Would you _stop_ turning everything into a race!?!" Despite saying this, Gloria and Luna still ran after him while Marnie was left behind.

The girl just maintained a neutral expression as she walked up the stairs, holding out her Morpeko and turning her so they faced each other.

"Mor?" Morpeko tilted her head curiously.

"Do... Do you like them, Morpeko?"

Morpeko raised a tiny paw and gave her trainer a 'give or take' hand gesture.

"Oh... What about that Sonia lady?"

Morpeko seemed to shrug.

"What... What about Victor?"

This time, Morpeko started thinking. Specifically, she thought about when she had reluctantly let Victor pet her so that he and the others wouldn't be distanced from Marnie.

_"We'll be good friends with her. Thank you for your consideration."_

Something was off about those words from the boy to her. It was as if... Victor knew what she was thinking.

She put on a curious but at the same time, suspicious look.

"Mor... peko."

"E-Eh? Not him, either?" Marnie asked. She was worried that Morpeko didn't seem fond of _any_ of their new acquaintances, but at the same time, she could understand why. Morpeko just didn't really trust anyone outside of Spikemuth, knowing fully well that nearly everyone they've seen has spread bad things about Marnie because she was from Spikemuth and had Team Yell follow her.

She stopped for a moment, just staring at her pokemon.

"But... You'll at least try to get alon' with them, right?"

Morpeko saw Marnie pleading to her with her eyes, clearly wanting her to give these people a chance.

Morpeko nodded with a smile, obviously not wishing to get in the way of her trainer's happiness.

"Mor! Morpeko!" She raised her paws cheerfully.

Marnie formed a tiny smile. "Thanks, Morpeko..."

She hugged her tightly, getting a soft cooing from her pokemon.

* * *

**~{Back At The Mines}~**

"I'm glad those guys seem to trust me now!" Victor happily hummed as he walked through the mines with Ace and Midori still following him. "I hope they find their way back."

After Victor's encounter with Team Yell, the two males cheerfully started heading to the mines' entrance rather than deeper ahead with Victor. 

However, they promised to spread his name through Team Yell as a fellow brother of culture, even saying that they'll bring him a Team Yell uniform to wear... which Victor couldn't help but feel curious about.

And now here he was, continuing deeper into the mines to either catch up with Bede or encounter Kabu somewhere in here like Sonia had mentioned.

It didn't take him too long, as he already heard a bit of a commotion up ahead.

"Thank you for helping out with my training, Team Yell. But I must say-!"

Victor turned the corner and came upon the sight of two more Team Yell grunts right in front of a Carkoal and a familiar fire-type Gym Leader.

"-it's unforgivable for you to get in the way of a Carkol at hard work!" It was none other than Kabu, the ever-burning man of fire, frowning at the two Team Yell grunts. His voice was loud and proud, clearly fitting for a trainer with a fiery passion for battling.

The two Team yell grunts looked angry.

"We weren't gettin' in its way! We were tryin' to cheer it on!" The first grunt said.

"Still, you did a number on us in that pokemon battle, so... it's time for Team Yell to scarper and give a morale boost elsewhere!"

The two grunts turned around and bolted away, leaving Kabu behind with a sigh.

"Cheering is one thing, but one shouldn't get in the way of honest work!" Kabu called to them as they left.

"Kabu!" Victor ran forward and approached the flaming man, prompting the Gym Leader to turn around curiously at who called him.

A smile formed on his face.

"Well, if it isn't one of the three endorsed by Leon? Victor, am I right?" Both of his hands held the towel around his neck, still sweating after clearly having some sort of intense workout. He was still in his red gym uniform, as it was perfect for exercising in any way.

"Yup! That's me! It's so good to meet you!" Victor bounced in excitement to meet yet another Gym Leader.

The two shook hands as Kabu chuckled.

"The pleasure is all mine. But isn't it a little late for you to be this deep in the mines?" The fire user asked him.

They let go as Victor answered with a proud smile. "I've gone to sleep much later than this! I want to get back to Motostoke to see how my friends are doing! Oh! Speaking of which, have you fought them yet?"

Kabu looked up in thought, "Hm... You're referring to your two fellow challengers endorsed by Leon, Hop and Gloria, correct? Sorry to say, but I haven't faced either one of them yet." 

"Oo! Then that means they must still be in Motostoke! Are you gonna head back? Stong trainers always need their rest!" Victor said, noticing that Kabu seemed to sweaty and spent.

"Hm, I suppose I should pack it in for the night. I guess training for several hours does tire one out... But hey, it's the only way that _I'll_ ever feel tired!" Kabu laughed. 

He then turned to the Carkoal with him, who was simply waiting patiently.

"Can you get home by yourself?"

"Car! Car!" The Coal Pokemon shouted confidently, then taking another path into the mines by itself.

"Now then..." He turned back to Victor, eyeing him and his backpack. "I don't suppose you'd be able to keep up my pace wearing that, would you?"

Victor adjusted his backpack as Ace and Midori stretched their legs a little, knowing what he meant.

"You bet!" The boy grinned.

"I like your answer! I would love to know someone who's caught Leon's eye, so let us be off!" Kabu turned around and started jogging ahead, with Victor and his pokemon following from behind.

Victor sped up a bit so he was side-by-side with Kabu.

"So, Victor. When did you formally meet Leon?" Kabu asked as a conversation starter.

"I actually met him a day or two before the Gym Challenge's opening ceremony. Heh, I remember heading to Hop's place and then hearing him say that we should go out and find Leon before he gets lost on the _straight_ path to his house."

That brought a laugh from Kabu, "Ah, yes. Leon's sense of direction is one of Galar's greatest mysteries."

"Kinda like where Nessa keeps her pokeballs?" Victor asked as the two turned a corner.

That question prompted an ever harder laugh from the Gym Leader. "So you've heard of that one too?"

"No, I just really wondered that when I fought her." Victor chuckled.

"Speaking of which, how _was_ your battle against miss Nessa? I would've watched it if I hadn't been training in these mines."

Victor turned his head to him with a happy expression.

"She was great! She had the brilliant sparkle in her eyes that really showed how much she was enjoying our battle! Kind of like how I see the fire in your eyes when you're battling, Kabu!"

"So you _do_ pay attention to the emotions of your opponents in battle? I believe that is needed in a trainer, to be able to tell not only how your pokemon feel, but how your opponent and their pokemon are feeling as well! Only then can you spark the flames and have a blazing battle!" Kabu said with a pumped-up fist.

Victor grinned, "Heh, I've had amazing battles so far! And even Nessa says that you will definitely want to battle me as I am right now!"

"Oho? I can't wait!" There was a pause as Kabu and Victor went through a skinnier tunnel. "Actually, I think I should wait... We both need our rest if we want to be at our peak performance for battling tomorrow."

"Heh, yeah, I guess so." Victor agreed with a nod.

The two then caught sight of the light from the outside just up ahead, prompting both of them to speed up a little as they felt a breeze come inside the mines.

"Are you always training here, Kabu?" Victor asked next as they neared the exit.

"Of course! My motto is to keep learning and training as long as I'm alive!" He declared proudly.

"But... you take breaks, right?" Victor asked, getting a little serious as he recalled Nessa and her workload.

"But of course. I eat proper meals and always make sure to get a good night's rest, and I'm always sure to even take some naps or treat myself to something."

Victor's smile returned as the two got out of the mines and into the moonlight shining down above them. They just kept jogging as Ace and Midori breathed a little harder behind them as they kept up, yet, also appreciating the beautiful colors of the night.

They ran along a dirt path with tall grass on the sides, pokemon scurrying to hide in them when they saw the fire-type leader running by.

"Why do you train so much?" Victor asked curiously as they continued jogging. "The media always sees you either in the gym or running somewhere with your pokemon. You must have a goal in mind if you're training so hard, right?"

Kabu's breathed out of his mouth at a steady pace with his jogging.

"Well, I wasn't always training this hard. *huff, puff* I grew up in a small town in Hoenn. *huff, puff* Battling started off as a hobby for me, *huff, puff* but I realized that it was felt the most *huff* amazing *puff* thing to do."

He and Victor slowed down their pace a little as they continued to follow the path.

"Phew... I was the strongest trainer in my town. *huff, puff* and Chairman Rose somehow caught *phew* sight of that. *huff, puff* I ended up getting visited by him. *Huff, puff* He invited me to Galar as a Gym Leader, *huff, puff* feeling that my fiery passion perfectly fits with Galar." 

"Oh, wow, really?" Victor lightly breathed as he jogged. "Rose actually went to Hoeen? *huff, puff* What for?"

"I don't know. *huff, puff* But I believe it related to *huff* looking for energy. *huff, puff* I lived near an energy plant when he *phew* caught sight of me."

_"Was Rose looking for an answer for Galar's crisis even back then?"_ Victor thought, appreciating how long ago the Chairman was convicted to save their region.

The two trainers ended up on the brick bridge that would lead into Motostoke's East entrance, still chatting as they felt the gentle breeze push against them.

"Nice. *huff, puff* And how was battling when you *huff* went to Galar?"

Kabu seemed to brighten.

"Outstanding! *huff* As a Gym Leader, *huff* I had to chance to fight the most powerful trainers! *puff* There were even a few times where I was close to becoming champion! *huff* But alas, *puff* victory always seemed to elude me at the last moment... *phew* So I tried adopting a no-holds-barred approach to battling for a time, *sigh* but even that didn't bring the results I wanted. *huff* I became disheartened and lost confidence in myself *puff* that I even dropped to the minor division. *huff*"

"Really? *huff* It was that bad? *puff*" Victor asked, surprised to hear that the fire master's flames had been put dimmed at one point.

Kabu nodded, still focusing his gaze forward on the path.

"Yes... *huff* But then after a _fantastic_ battle with Leon. *puff* I regained faith in my own potential! *huff* That's when I changed my motto to always train every moment I could! *puff* With breaks, of course. *huff* And now here I am, considered feared by many that I'll end their careers!" He actually laughed at that last part, then breathing harder to regain his pace.

"You must have so much experience! *huff*" Victor said excitedly, "Any advice for me? *puff*"

Kabu turned his head to Victor with a smile, breathing out his nose as he raised a pumped fist.

"The same advice I try to tell everyone else!" His breathing through his mouth returned. "Experiment with every possibility of your pokemon! *huff, puff* Moves, abilities, items! *huff* Try everything, and there's sure to be a path forward!"

Victor felt the burning passion behind the trainer's words, feeling enlightened by just hearing them.

"Man, now I _really_ can't wait to battle you!" He exclaimed, fire in his eyes that Kabu noticed with glee.

"As can't I Victor, as can't I." Kabu answered as he turned his head forward once more.

By now, after all that constant jogging without stopping, Victor and Kabu arrived into Motostoke. Yet they continued jogging all the way to the Gym Leader's stadium, getting some pictures taken of them from citizens along the way.

The stopped in front of the stadium doors, where Kaabu turned to Victor and caught his breath.

Ace and Midori arrived a few seconds later, then falling on their behinds in exhaustion.

"Raboot..."

"Kirl..."

Victor heard them whine and glanced back at them, raising an eyebrow.

_"It looks like we'll need to do more general exercise than just fighting."_

"I must say, Victor, I'm impressed." Kabu smiled, using his towel to wipe his sweaty forehead. "I honestly didn't expect you to actually keep up the entire way with me, especially with that large backpack on you."

Victor wiped just a bit of sweat from his own forehead, chuckling. "Oh, it was nothing! I actually do exercise myself!"

He slightly raised his shirt and showed Kabu a decent six-pack for his age.

"See? It even shows a bit!"

Kabu crouched down with a hand on his chin, looking impressed by his physique, "My, to have these sorts of muscles at a young age, you must've started exercising when you were even younger. You must join me when I head to get exercise in a gym sometime!"

Victor lowered his shirt and chuckled, "A human gym? I've never been to one before!"

Kabu stood back up and smirked, "I wonder how you'll fare there? Let's discuss it another day. For now, I wish you a good night, Gym Challenger Victor. May you show me the fiery passion of your pokemon tomorrow. I will see you then."

Victor walked backward and playfully saluted him, "You too, Kabu! It was great talking to you! Let's run again sometime!"

"I would be glad to invite you!" Kabu waved back with a big smile.

"Oh, and it's just Victor!" Victor finished.

The fire Gym Leader chuckled before stepping inside his nearly empty gym, intending to head to his private room to shower and sleep for the night.

"Hm, I can already see why Leon chose that boy. Such confidence, and being able to interact with others so well... That can apply to both people and pokemon."

He grinned as a faint fire reflected in his eyes.

"Can his flames outlast mine, though?"

While Kabu walked into his stadium, Victor walked to the middle of the city path and looked around, seeing if he could catch sight of his friends.

_"Hm, I guess they all must be sleeping in the Budew Inn by now..."_ He thought, looking up at the moon and stars illuminating the sky.

He glanced down at Ace and Midori, both looking rather exhausted not by the time of day, but by constant jogging they weren't used to doing.

"Hm... Let's heal you guys up in a pokemon center and head off for the night. Twilight's still down from that fight with Bede, after all."

His pokemon agreed and they made their way to the Motostoke Pokemon Center that was passed the Budew in, Victor glancing at the Inn for a moment before arriving at his destination.

Once inside, Victor healed his pokemon at the nurse's desk. But as he was about to leave, his eyes stopped on the Pokemart, making him remember Nessa's advice for him.

_"I noticed you had your pokemon, 'Midori' use the same moves a lot. Don't you think about using any TMs or TRs for him or your other pokemon?"_

He smiled, approaching the man in a blue uniform.

"Ah! Gym Challenger Victor." The man recognized him immediately.

"Just Victor, please." Victor insisted with a friendly wave. "Do you guys happen to have any TMs or TRs?"

The man smiled as he turned around and grabbed a box from the shelf, placing it on the counter.

"For now, we only have the TMs that are always in stock at this specific Pokemon Center. We don't have any TRs right now, as those usually get bought quickly when we find them and put them up for sale. But you may take a look through these TMs!"

Victor looked in the box and at the disks' names in cases, muttering them aloud.

"False Swipe, Round, Light Screen, Reflect... I don't even think my pokemon can use most of these..."

He pulled one of the cases out.

"I guess I'll buy Protect and a few potions."

"Wise choice, it's never a bad idea to give Protect to a pokemon." The male staff smiled as he priced the items.

Victor removed his backpack and opened a small compartment that contained a large amount of money. Money provided from Hop's family due to Leon managing to earn them so much.

As he and his now healed pokemon exited the place, Victor curiously fondled the small case that contained the TM.

"Hm... I guess I can give all of you Protect since I can use a TM as much as I want, but I don't think it'd be smart to just give you guys every move you're able to learn..." He managed to slide TM behind him into his backpack as he walked to the Budew Inn now.

Ace and Midori both nodded in agreement that he shouldn't just repeatedly use the item just because he can.

Twilight was perched back on Victor's backpack now, looking vigorous now that he was healed up. While Tesla was still sleeping in his cozy spot in Victor's backpack.

"I'll think about moves later." Victor smiled as he got to the Inn's entrance, the doors opening automatically as he walked in.

He then stopped as he saw a familiar person standing in front of the Inn's golden statue.

"Marnie?" Victor's eyes brightened upon seeing her, making Ace roll his eyes.

The girl turned around with a neutral expression, but some light shined in her eyes when she saw the boy.

"Victor..." She muttered meekly despite keeping her cold look. "Were you out travelin' this late?"

Instead of answering, Victor approached her with a flowery aura.

"Marnie! It's so nice to see you again!" He laughed with a brightening smile.

That seemed to make Marnie lightly blush.

"Is... Is it really?"

"Well, yeah! Why wouldn't it be-!?" Victor suddenly stopped himself as he suddenly remembering words, depressing words.

_"Well... People believe that everyone from Spikemuth is dangerous, and this is because of rumors that have been spreading for quite a while now."_ He recollected Chairman Rose telling him in Hulbury.

_"Our Marnie ain't... She ain't ever had a friend outside of Spikemuth. When we followed her out as she went to take on that dang old Gym Challenge, we started hearing wankers saying all sorts of pants to her. Everyone looked at her like she was bad... Team Yell is used to the looks and words, but ain't nobody should be thinkin' of our precious Marnie like that!"_ He remembered the first Team Yell grunt just earlier.

_"We thought ya were like all those other folks, judgin' bastards... And we thought ya were tricking Marnie by actin' nice."_ He recalled the second grunt adding these words.

Victor's smile slowly started to fade, something that Marnie noticed and became slightly nervous.

"Wh-What's wrong?"

Victor scratched the back of his head, avoiding her gaze as he thought about what to say.

"Er... Can I ask you a few things?"

"Um... Yeh, of course." Marnie answered, despite feeling worried about Victor's change in tone just now.

Victor's pokemon knew that this conversation might last a bit, so Ace, Midori, and Twilight went away from them and explored the room, leaving the kids to themselves.

Victor focused his gaze back on Marnie, lowering his hand from his head.

"You're... from Spikemuth, right?"

Hearing those words instantly brought some dread to Marnie. She suddenly found herself recalling so many things said about her, things keeping everyone _away_ from her.

_"Wait, ain't she the one on those banners Team Yell carry around?"_

_"I think she is, so she's the reason they're always making trouble?"_

_"She looks kind of scary... Don't look at her."_

_"Isn't she from Spikemuth?"_

_"It'd be bad to get involved with her..."_

_"Wait, that's Piers' little sister, isn't she?"_

_"Oh dear, no wonder all of Team Yell is causing havoc for her then..."_

Marnie lowered her head and found herself shaking.

"W-Well... Y-Yeah... It... It should've been obvious..."

"Yeah... Um, did you grow up there your entire life?" Victor then asked.

Marnie weakly nodded, not looking up at the boy out of worry of seeing any disgust or caution on his face.

Her Morpeko frown and actually changed colors, the yellow of her body changing to black as her eyes turned into a hostile red.

"MOR!" She threatened with black sparks of electricity forming on his cheeks.

Victor didn't acknowledge the hostility from her pokemon, instead, saying something.

"I'm sorry..."

That wasn't something Marnie nor Morpeko expected to hear, making the pokemon pause her anger while her trainer looked up in shock by what he meant.

Then her eyes widened, catching sight of how Victor was looking at her.

What she saw wasn't disgust, it wasn't fear, nor was it anger. It was a look that she had never seen anyone outside of Spikemuth give her before.

It was a sad but sympathetic smile.

"It must've been hard for you... right?"

"Wha... What?" Marnie found herself unable to speak, wondering what Victor was doing. At the same time, her Morpeko still remained in her hostile, Hangry phase, being wary of anything Victor would say to hurt Marnie.

Victor kept his gaze on the girl as he continued speaking.

"Um, I learned a few things while traveling... I heard how people think that you and Team Yell are really dangerous. They think you guys destroyed your town's Power Spot or moved to Spikemuth because it didn't have one. But... That's not true, right?"

"YELL, NO!!" Four Team Yell grunts, two males and two females, suddenly appeared behind the Inn's gold statue, all of them holding either Marnie banners or Y-shaped horns. "We did no such thing!!"

Marnie turned around, shocked, "Y-You guys were there!?"

"Of course we are! We'll always be around supporting our goddess!" One of the grunts shouted.

The four of them suddenly passed Marnie and gathered around Victor.

"An' from what we heard from two of our bros, they told us that ya wanna be friends with her! Is that right!?" One of the female grunts yelled.

"H-Huh!?" Marnie was bewildered by what she was hearing.

"Of course I would!" Victor declared with a pumped fist and glimmering smile.

"So it was bloody true then!? Welcome to the club!!" Team Yell _yelled,_ welcomingly.

"H-Hang on-" Marnie started.

"Man, I didn't think that the two I met in the mines would tell the rest of you guys so fast." Victor expressed his surprise.

"Team Yell always gets everything done on the double! And we've even got a uniform for ya!" One of the female grunts grinned as she pulled out the pink and black set of clothing.

"Oo! I wonder if I'd be able to pull off a punk look?" Victor laughed.

"MORPEKO!" Marnie's Morpeko, still in Hangry mode, shrieked at the group, getting their attention so they'd focuse on Marnie.

The was girl blushing timidly as she asked;

"Wh-What's going on?"

Victor realized that the interruption from Team Yell derailed him off track, "Oh! Sorry, um... How do I explain this?"

He paused in thought for a moment before speaking with a confident smile.

"As I was saying before, I know that Team Yell never really did any of the bad things people say they did. Well, other than annoying challengers, that is. But everything they've ever done was for you, right?"

"Oi! For Piers too! He was the one who formed our family!" Team Yell shouted.

Victor just continued before he'd get distracted again.

"And... I met up with some of Team Yell in the second Galar Mines. They told me that people outside of Spikemuth tend to say bad things about you. Things I'm sure aren't true. It's sad, but most people will always be judgemental of others first glance."

He chuckled as he reached both arms and patted the shoulders of both male grunts beside him, the two not minding it.

"But I know you guys aren't bad at all! I know that Team Yell can go... 'overboard' in expressing their support, but they're not bad people! They just want to support an amazing person!"

"Yeah!!" Team Yell shouted as they blew their horns and held up banners of Marnie with comedic tears.

"Y-You... became friends with Team Yell?" Marnie asked, clearly in disbelief at how he casually interacted with them.

"..." Victor turned left and right to the group, then putting on a smile as he shrugged. "I guess I did? I don't _know_ any of them individually, but I'd love to have them as friends!"

Marnie gulped, then asking something else timidly.

"Wh-What... What about... me? W-Would you... be friends with me?" She almost sounded scared to ask.

Hearing that, everyone's eyes focused on Victor, with Team Yell staring rather intensely as if warning him.

Victor just smiled as he stepped forward so he was right in front of Marnie, looking slightly down due to her slightly shorter height.

"Weren't we already friends?"

Marnie's eyes widened as she remembered previous words Victor had told her.

_"We'll get along! We'll be great friends, I promise!!"_

"*Sniff*"

Everyone turned black and white with comedic lightning striking in the background.

_"Eh?"_ They all thought in unison.

Tears went down the corners of Marnie's eyes. Her Morpeko turning back in his black and yellow colors while looking up at her trainer in worry.

"Mor? Mor!?"

"Look! Ya made Marnie cry!" One of the grunts yelled to Victor, making the rest have fire in their eyes.

"OH GOD! I'M A MONSTER!" Victor shouted even louder than them, surprising the grunts. He clutched his own head with a look of comedic despair, knowing he made a girl cry.

_"Only the worst kinds of men make girls cry!"_ He recalled his mother saying before.

"N-No... *sniff* I'm... not sad." They heard Marnie speak up.

They looked up as Marnie's rubbed her eyes with an arm, still holding her Morpeko with the other.

"I-I'm... I'm just..." She moved her arm out of the way to reveal her slightly watery eyes. "I'm so happy... I... I never thought I'd really have a friend o-outside of Spikemuth. I...I thought you would try to avoid me l-like everyone else does... I thought you were going to do that wh-when you asked if I was from Spikemuth..."

"Of course not! There's no way I'd avoid someone like you, Marnie! You're an absolute treasure!"

"Yeah! He really gets it!" Team Yell all shouted in proud sync.

"Hop and Gloria _must_ already know this too! They'll be glad to be friends with you too if they're not already friends! I'm sure of it!" Victor declared. "I'll make sure you have plenty of friends!"

Marnie looked down as she let out some more sniffles.

"Th-Thank you..."

Morpeko stared up at Victor, watching his eyes of care and concern remain on Marnie. The pokemon couldn't help but smile as she felt how happy her trainer was, judging by how she was held in her arms tightly.

Perhaps the boy could really be nice.

"Go, Marnie!" Team Yell shouted, proud that their goddess had obtained a good friend.

Victor smiled sweetly, "If you ever need anything, Marnie, anything at all, then just let me know!"

Hearing that, Marnie looked back up, her eyes still a little watery.

"R-Really?"

"Of course! Friends always help each other!" Victor stated, putting a hand on his chest proudly. "Hop and Gloria would do anything to help me, and I would do anything back! So of course, I'd do the same for you!"

The horned-tufts of Marnie's hair fluttered, the girl clearly having something in mind.

"U-Um... Th-Then..." She nervously fidgeted in place. "Are you and your pokemon tired?"

"Nope! I usually stay up pretty late! As for my pokemon..." He turned his head to his awake three pokemon, who were simply admiring the room while their trainer talked. And Tesla was still sleeping peacefully in Victor's backpack as always. "They seem pretty awake."

"In that case-" Marnie piped up, looking a little anxious. "H-Help with somethin' for a sec. I want t'see if I'm ready for the next leg of the Gym Challenge!"

Victor tilted his head, curiously. "Hm? Help you how?"

"H-Have a battle with me!" The girl answered, looking pumped up but still slightly blushing as she asked this of him.

Victor's eye reflected surprise in them. "Really? Right _now?_ Isn't it really late?"

"That's why I asked if ya pokemon were tired. My pokemon and I are used to bein' up late. I-If you don't wanna battle..."

"No, no, I'd love to have a battle with you!" Victor smiled reassuringly.

Marnie's eyes sparkled, "Really!? Thank you so much! It'll be the first time I battle a fellow challenger!"

Victor grinned, "I gotta warn you, I never hold back."

"I'd be mad if ya did." Marnie pouted.

"GO MARNIE!!" Team Yell shouted with their banners up.

* * *

**~{Wydon Stadium- 11:04PM}~**

Leon walked through many halls higher up in the stadium, head looking in all directions as question marks appeared over him.

"Dang it... One moment you're in the lobby, then as _soon_ as you look for a vending machine, you're completely lost." The champion awkwardly chuckled as he walked through the many halls of inside the large stadium.

He checked many rooms to see if he could find the breakroom where he knew someone would be waiting. He failed to find the room quickly, opening door to door to several other rooms, most of them leading into meeting rooms.

"Lost again, Leon?" A voice chuckled down the hall.

The champion closed the door to another empty meeting room when he heard a familiar voice, turning his head to see the Chairman walking towards him with Oleana by his side.

Leon smiled, "Rose! I was just about to find my way to the breakroom to meet you!"

"We both know you'd never find your way into the breakroom unless someone helped you." Oleana pointed out without any hesitation.

"Ouch, still as blunt as always, Oleana." The champion laughed as he rubbed the back of his head.

Rose joined in with a chuckle, "We went to find you since it's always faster."

"Well... Here I am now. So why did you want to see me?" Leon asked him.

Rose turned around to go back the way he came, "Walk with me as I explain."

Leon complied and walked beside the Chairman, the two males speaking with Oleana following behind.

"I assume you've heard the message I sent to Galar this morning?" Rose started, keeping a small smile despite the subject.

Leon's own smile just seemed to fade. "Yeah... Team Rocket, right?"

"Rainbow Rocket now." Oleana corrected from the back.

"Yes... It appears that they've grown rather large in size in a short period of time. We don't know how that was the case, but apparently, there were sightings of their members in several other regions apart from Kanto, such as Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Kalos. So we can assume that perhaps they obtained their new members through these regions and, for some reason, might've all gathered in Galar."

"Huh? What makes you think these guys all came to Galar? Don't you think they would've stayed in Kanto since that's where their organization originally formed?" Leon asked him.

"There have been many sightings of them here... A little _too_ many. People have been ambushed by several members at a time, they've been spotted nearby towns, and we've arrested many of them, yet, they keep coming. So either their organization has grown so large that they can expend thousands of trainers, or their main group has settled somewhere in Galar. And I'm choosing to believe its the latter."

"But... What'd they even want here in Galar?" Leon asked, clear worry on his face at the thought of the large organization invading his home.

"There are several possibilities... But all of them have the same concept that they're looking for something." Rose answered while scratching his beard.

"But what are they looking for?" Leon asked next.

"There could be several things that can catch their attention... There are rumors of powerful pokemon within the area known as the Crowned Tundra, a supposed recipe at the Isle of Armor that allows pokemon to Gigantamax, and more. But we haven't received as many sightings there, so I believe they're looking for something around the main parts of Galar."

The group made their way into a private room that looked like a spare office for Rose. Oleana closed the door behind them as the two males made their way to a couch in the room and sat down.

"And... Do you have any idea what that 'something' is?" Leon questioned next.

That made Rose's smile falter, actually having an idea of something in mind. He thought about the power plant in Hammerlocke, remembering something... Something _sleeping_ there that was leaking power, helping all of Galar remain energized.

_"But how would they know of something like that? No one has ever known about 'it' but Oleana and me... As well as the other previous chairmen. Would they really...?"_

"Chairman?" Leon called to him.

"Hm? Oh, I was just thinking about the item they're looking for is... I can't say I have a clue." He awkwardly chuckled.

Oleana peaked up from her clip to steal a glance at the Chairman, knowing that wasn't the case.

"I see..." Leon said, not questioning him as he leaned back on the couch with his legs crossed.

He looked up and let out a worried sigh, "Why did they have to come the year my brother chooses to take on the Gym Challenge... I hope he doesn't run into any of those guys..."

Rose pat him on the shoulder reassuringly, "Hop is a strong lad, he'll be fine. And that brings me to what else I came to tell you about. I wish to ask of your assistance in apprehending any groups of Rainbow Rocket goons spotted in Galar."

Leon turned to him with an eyebrow raised, "Really? My help?"

"Leon, of course I'd like the champion's help. With your abilities, we're sure to put away many more Rainbow Rocket members to make the public feel safer."

"I don't know... I'm busy enough as it is." Leon pointed out. 

"Don't worry. Other than battles, I'll make sure that you're free from any other events people wish to bring you into. That way, you can travel with my staff around different areas of Galar to hunt any goons spotted."

"Hm, I guess it should be alright then. At least it means that I still have that match against Bea tomorrow." Leon grinned, looking excited.

"Ah yes, Bea... The most antisocial of our Gym Leaders." Oleana sighed.

"Really? Not Piers?" Leon joked. "And I'm sure the role is gonna be taken by that Allister kid when he becomes a Gym Leader. "Never have I met anyone so adorably shy." He laughed.

Rose chuckled, "Yes, we're simply deciding on where to put his gym... I'm hoping that one of these days, Galar will have a gym of every typing to show the world that it's the region to truly test your strength."

"And we got Gordie to agree to be a Rock-type gym leader in the future?" Leon asked him.

"Gordie always agreed to be another Gym Leader, but Melony wishes that he'd inherit her gym of ice typings..." Rose pointed out.

"Heh, good old disagreements between family. I remember when my mum was all against the idea of me taking the Gym Challenge. And yet, here I am now, the strongest in the world!" Leon grinned.

"Yes, but back to Bea, I've actually been meaning to bring her up with someone." Rose said, getting Leon's attention from his past. "Have you ever tried speaking with Bea outside of battle?"

Leon looked up in thought, "Well, sometimes she'd ask how I'd train. Then she'd wish to head right back to her gym to continue training... The only time I've really seen her do something not related to training or battling is when she watches over Allister."

That made Rose sigh, "All she truly thinks about is battling... It worries me. She never really interacts too much with any other Gym Leaders. Even Piers seems to get along with you and Raihan."

"You mean when we endlessly drag him around Galar to have fun?" Leon chuckled. "We thought about kinda doing the same to Bea, but... There's no way any of us want to take _her_ fighting moves to the face."

"Hm..." Rose looked down with a hand on his chin. "I've tried telling her to take more time for herself, but my words never seemed to get through to her. Allister himself has tried to have Bea relax, but he's never able to keep her for too long before she's right back to training again... Although, I am curious to see how much stronger she's become compared to the last time she's fought you..."

"Heh, no matter how strong she's gotten, I'll make sure to win again!" Leon grinned with a thumbs up.

Rose smiled as he knew what Leon said was innocent enough, but what he said was also the very thing that worried him.

_"After all that training Bea does, if she loses to Leon again... then just much will that bring her down? I hope she won't do anything rash..."_

He leaned back on the couch as he gently scratched his beard.

_"I wonder... Could there be someone who could provide the experience Bea needs? To just let her find things to enjoy and stop training so much?"_

He then found himself thinking of a particular boy that managed to get Nessa back on her feet after the model had faced her own predicament. The boy that always seemed to brighten up the room, showing the signs of selflessness and confidence.

Rose smiled assuredly, crossing his arms as he closed his eyes.

"It'll work out."

* * *

**~{Stow-On-Side- 11:15PM}~**

A young warrior sat alone in a dark room that was only illuminated by a few candles. She was cross-legged on a mat on the wooden floor of a dojo, eyes closed and hands together on her lap.

She breathed deeply as the candles around her flickered from the air coming from the open windows behind her. She was completely absorbed in her senses, sharpening them as she listened to everything surrounding her. She heard the candles' flickering, the gentle breeze of the outside, and small movements in the same room as her.

In the shadows, faintly lit brown eyes watched the warrior from afar, narrowing his sights on her as swiftly moved around the room with barely any sound.

With her sharpened senses, the warrior was able to pick up on the faint movements, yet making none of her own yet.

It wasn't until she heard a woosh heading right to her when her eyes snapped open in a sharp look.

She shot up and swung her leg upward, the force causing the several candles around her to be instantly put out, leaving the only light source to be the moonlight behind her.

"Hi-yah!" She stuck her leg up in a high kick, and the heel of her foot connected to a very large stalk, one that was shaped to be like a lance. Their impact seemed to somehow ignite the room for a split second, revealing who the stalk belonged to.

A proud pokemon resembling a white duck narrowed his eyes on the young warrior in front of him. He had a yellow beak, eyebrow-like markings, and matching yellow legs and webbed feet. The items in his hands were of a large leek held in two parts, the lance-like stalk in his right, and the hard leaves of the leek in his left.

This was Sirfetch'd, the Wild Duck Pokemon.

His trainer was actually the very warrior in front of him that had intercepted his attack. A slender, but fit young girl with tan skin, grey eyes, and grey hair cut into a bob. She had on a signature skintight black bodysuit with her uniform consisting of a cut-off white shirt with a black collar and a pair of white shorts with orange and black details on them, along with a black and orange glove. She had no shoes on, mostly preferring to be barefoot when she battled, and she maintained a stoic expression always seen by Galar.

This was Bea, the Karate Prodigy of Galar.

Sirfetch'd pulled his lance back and landed on the ground, then swinging his weapon horizontally.

Bea jumped right over the swing and spun her leg.

"Hi-yah!"

Sirfetch'd rose his shield and the trainer's attack collided with it, but the pokemon firmly kept himself in place as he then pushed his shield forward, sending Bea slightly upward in the air.

Bea backflipped before landing in a crouching position, the moonlight now fully shining down on her to reveal her emotionless expression.

Both fighters maintained fighting stances in silence. The candles still had traces of smoke blowing gently, and the room was now in silence once more, aside from the gentle breeze blowing.

The two then stood up straight, with Bea putting her fist into her hand right in front of her chest, and both bowed respectfully to one another.

"Good." Her voice was calm and also a bit quiet. She and her pokemon raised their heads back up, with Sirfetch'd then walking to the fighting beauty confidentially. "I believe we're ready."

Her pokemon kept his sword and shield close.

"Sir-Fetch!" He said proudly, indicating that he felt ready.

Bea turned her back to him and walked to the room's open windows, peering outside at the small town of Stow-on-side. 

"Tomorrow... We'll finally end Leon's streak. We'll take him down and become the strongest there ever was."

She thought about all the training she's done, everything she's been working for, it would all be for tomorrow. Even if it's just an exhibition match, she knew that her skills should be at their peak to finally make Leon lose for the first time.

The fighting-type leader heard the door of the room open, letting light shine in.

"B-Bea?" A quiet and timid voice called.

The karate prodigy turned around and saw a short boy all too familiar to her.

He was an 11-year old boy with pale skin and fairly short black hair with a curved cowlick. His face was covered by a white mask with large holes for his eyes and mouth, yet additional darkness in these holes somehow hid these facial features.

"Allister? What are you doing here so late? You should be sleeping." Bea declared as she walked over to him with her Sirfetch'd beside her.

"I-I told you this before... I-I don't really sleep." Allister shyly answered.

Bea paused in front of him, staring down at his attire. "What are you wearing?"

Allister had on an outfit that Bea immediately recognized to be a gym uniform of some kind. He had on a long-sleeved black shirt and shorts, both of which shared a light purple dot-like pattern with the addition of a pair of purple rings on ends of both sleeves. His right sleeve had the Galar League symbol, the same spot where Bea's symbol was. On the center of his shirt was a design clearly meant to resemble the ghost-typing, and on his left hand is a purple glove with black fingertips. 

"You have a gym uniform?" Bea questioned with a tilt of her head.

Allister nervously fidgeted in place, "Y-Yeah... Since I might become a Gym Leader like you, R-Rose already made a uniform for me... H-How does it look?"

"It looks fitting for a uniform. But again, why are you here so late?"

Allister looked down, a little sad from Bea's response. "W-Well... I know that you have that match against Leon early tomorrow... So... I just wanted to say g-good luck..." He quietly said.

Bea was quiet for a moment, then reaching down and gently petting his head despite maintaining her blank look.

"I appreciate it, but I don't need luck. I'm going to beat Leon using all the training I've been doing. Now come, let's get you to bed."

She got up and returned her Sirfetch'd into his pokemon, then walking past the small boy and picking up a duffle bag lying beside the door.

"..." Allister remained still as he watched her go to the exit and turn to him, expecting him to come with her.

Seeing that he wasn't moving, she called to him.

"What is it?"

Allister looked down and nervously fiddled with his fingers.

He spoke with small pauses. "Um... Bea? When you... finish your battle against Leon... do you... w-want to... d-do something... together?"

Bea raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Y-You know... L-Like we used to do? Like... go shopping together? P-Play somewhere? W-We used to do it whenever you had a break..."

Bea stared at him as she thought about what he said, but then thinking more about her training.

She turned her back to him.

"Maybe. Let's just head back right now."

Allister looked down at his feet in defeat.

"Al...right..."

He followed her out of the room, his sad expression hidden behind his large mask. He heard this several times before, asking Bea to do something with him, the girl staring at him without a hint of emotion, and then would answer him with that same word, 'maybe.'

And whenever she said maybe... it never happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Continues walking through the forest.)
> 
> HNNNNGH! Marnie is just, too, PRECIOUS! God I love her. It's so fun writing things with her. But now Victor's finally back in Motostoke to catch up with his good friends after a nice chat with Kabu, naturally bonding! Oh! Bea!? It's BEA! OH AND ALLISTER! *Squeals!* Aw yeah, it's all coming together. Oh but he's... sad. Before I cry, I wonder how Bea's battle is gonna go against Leon? I'm sure she'll do fiiiiiiiiiiiine.
> 
> (Sees another paper on a tree and scoops it up.)
> 
> But as for the next time on Galar's Secret Miracle, Victor's gonna give Marnie the battle she wants! Oh? Actually, it seems like the part will be all about our precious girl! Until next time, I'll see you again in the next chapter "Lass Of Spikemuth."
> 
> (Reads Note)
> 
> "omae wa mou shindeiru"
> 
> N-NANI!?
> 
> (Turns around to see a tall man in a black suit with no face.)
> 
> *High Pitched Noises*


	18. The Lass Of Spikemuth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~{Author's Pre-Notes}~
> 
> (Mimikyu driving in a car within a city with a star in the top-right corner)
> 
> I didn't even do anything!? That guy just drove into the gas station and blew up! I had nothing to do with it!
> 
> (Takes a sharp turn on the street to outrun the police before seeing you.)
> 
> O-Oh, hi! Um... I swear this isn't what it looks like! Er-I-Um, I know, let's go over the previous chapter! So last time, Victor met up with both Team Yell and Marnie to have wholesomeness with them! And now, our two rivals are going to have at each other in a pokemon battle! I wonder things are going to end up!? I wonder what's going to happen afterward!? Let's find out now!
> 
> (Police sirens get closer as now two stars appear)
> 
> Wha-!? What did I even do!?

** ~{Wild Area, In front of Motostoke- 11:15 PM}~ **

Victor and Marnie were a good distance away from each other as the moonlight shined down upon them, spotlighting what was going to be their battle.

"Go, Marnie!"

The four Team Yell grunts on the side cheered energetically while Marnie nervously shivered with a small blush out of embarrassment.

"Wh-Why are ya lot still here!? Ya should be back at Spikemuth!" She timidly shouted at them.

"Why wouldn't we be here supportin' our goddess!?" One of the grunts holding up a banner of Marnie shouted.

"Geez... You lot..." Marnie turned away from them with a sigh.

"Mor! Mor!" Her Morpeko smiled on the ground beside her trainer, always amused to see Marnie's fans supporting her.

Marnie then stared across from her towards her opponent, Victor. The boy was sitting in a cross-legged manner with all of his pokemon around him, casually talking to them while waiting for Marnie to ready up. Ace and Twilight stood with stoic looks, while Midori curiously stared down at Tesla still in the backpack.

"Should ya really have all your pokemon out? It gives away info about your team." Marnie called from afar.

Victor and his pokemon glanced at her, to which the boy stood up straight and adjusted his beanie with a grin.

"That won't really matter, because if everything keeps going the way it's been going, then I'll be sure to win this battle too!"

Marnie pulled out a Dusk Ball, her expression suddenly changing to a cold, but determined look, one that was nearly the same as her usual unintentional glare.

"We'll see about that."

Victor chuckled,  _ "Well now, she really does have such a natural fighting face." _

"I'll feel awful if I lose...  _ But- _ !" She held her Dusk Ball with both hands and pulled them back while raising a leg, getting into a pitching stance, "-there's no way I'm gonna!"

She then tossed her Dusk Ball forward as Victor pointed a finger ahead.

"Start the show, Ace!"

Ace ran forward with his hands stuffed in his pouch, for some reason.

Out of Marnie's Dusk Ball came a Croagunk, a dark blue, yellow-eyed, bipedal Pokémon that resembles a poison dart frog.

"Croa!" It looked to have a smile as he got into a fighting position.

They immediately got started.

"Quick Attack!" Victor shouted.

"Sucker Punch!" Marnie's voice was suddenly louder than what Victor had ever heard from her before.

Ace was just starting to glow white as Marnie's Croagunk suddenly vanished and appeared right in front of him, shocking him and Victor.

"Raboo-!?"

"Gunk!" Croagunk swung his fist into Ace's stomach, making his eyes bulged as he was sent backward.

_ "So quick!"  _ Victor thought as Ace flew through the air.

"Now Venoshock!" Marnie pointed upward.

"Croa!" Croagunk's mouth puffed up before he then spewed out several bursts of poisonous purple sludge, aiming at Ace in the air.

"Turn your body and avoid it!"

Ace opened an eye despite being in pain and tilted his body back, managing to manipulate himself in the air to barely avoid these blasts of sludge sent at him. He then flipped himself so that he landed on his feet, clutching his stomach where Croagunk had punched him.

Marnie seemed impressed. "Whoa, that combo usually takes out a pokemon pretty fast. Ya really are the real deal, aren't ya?"

Victor let out a breath of relief, "You really did surprise both of us, I never had such a sudden start from an opponent. But that's the only time you'll catch me off guard! Ace, Flame Charge!"

Ace was breathing hard to recover from getting punched, but his body flared up in flames as he then blasted forward.

"Poison Sting em'!"

Croagunk's mouth puffed up again before it fired a barrage of purple poison spikes this time.

Ace ran side to side to avoid getting hit by any of these spike-like darts, getting faster and closer to Croagunk before jumping forward with a leg sticking out.

"Ra-!" He swung his foot right onto Croagunk's face, "-boot!"

"Croa!" Croagunk's face turned from the force of the kick, also being sent flying back.

"Revenge him!"

Croagunk flipped himself before landing on its feet and punching both of its fists together, suddenly glowing an orange aura. This aura then focused itself into Croagunk's right fist as it ran forward at Ace.

Victor and Ace waited patiently as Croagunk came close with his fist swinging.

"Duck and sweep him!"

Croagunk's fist was aimed at Ace's face, so the rabbit pokemon ducked while sliding his leg against the ground, kicking Croagunk off its feet so hard that it started spiraling in the air.

"Revenge again!"

"Tackle!"

Croagunk came out of his spin with his fist glowing orange again, then falling down to Ace while swinging it down.

Ace jumped upward and the Toxic Mouth pokemon's fist crashed into the ground, sending dirt in all directions. But just above him, Ace pulled his fist slightly back as he fell before swinging it down and nailing it onto the Croagunk's head.

"Cro!" Croagunk stumbled back while clutching its head.

"Venoshock to make space!" Marnie shouted, her eyes reflecting confidence in her pokemon.

Still clutching its head, Croagunk puffed its cheeks before blasting streams of poison again.

"Quick Attack and Flame Charge!"

Ace formed a white aura as he dashed like a blur once again, appearing from spot to spot and avoiding to get hit by any of the poison before appearing right in front of Croagunk.

"Croa!?"

"Ra-boot!" Ace then caught fire as he rammed his elbow into the Croagunk's stomach, returning the favor from the earlier punch.

Croagunk made a blenching sound as it was sent rolling back on the ground, then stopping at Marnie's feet with swirling eyes.

"Croa..."

"Ah! Croagunk!" Marnie crouched down and checked her now unconscious pokemon.

"NO! He will be missed!" Team Yell shouted with comedic tears.

"Wha- He isn't dead!" Victor shouted to them as Marnie returned her first pokemon with a pout.  _ "Although, if that Croagunk had the ability Dry Skin, then that Flame Charge must've hurt WAY more." _

"You may have gotten one of my pokemon down, but it's far from over!" 

"Ya said it Marnie! Knock his block off!" Team Yell cheered.

Marnie pulled out another Dusk Ball, the sphere clicking open to release another pokemon.

"Scraggy!" What came out was a bipedal, lizard-like orange and cream-colored pokemon that used its hands to hold loose, yellow skin around its legs, resembling saggy trousers.

"Use Headbutt!" Marnie shouted.

Scraggy ran forward with his head sticking out.

"Use Double Kick to intercept him!" Victor countered.

Ace jumped and spun in the air before swinging his leg.

"Raboot!" His foot and Scraggy's head connected to each other, their collision created a small shockwave that spread through the area.

"Push your foot down on him!"

But still in the air, Ace did as he was told and forcefully pushed his foot down on Scraggy's head to make him lower it.

"Send him flyin' upward, Scraggy!" Marnie said. Scraggy mustered enough strength to raise his head and fling Ace straight upward into the air.

However, this was what Ace wanted.

As he flew upward, Ace spun before pointing his foot up, then falling down as he swung his leg as heavy as he could.

"Ra-!"

Scraggy looked up with his eyes widening before Ace's foot slammed right into his head.

"-boot!"

"Scrag!!" The Shedding Pokeman ended up with his head smashed right into the ground, causing a big blast of dirt and stone to be sent flying as dust covered the area.

"Ooo..." Victor and his pokemon cringed. "That looked like it __ hurt..."

When the dust cleared up, Marnie's Scraggy had its face in the ground, laying on its stomach.

"A-Already!?" Marnie stammered as she saw him.

"Oi! What if you gave Scraggy brain damage-amage-amage!?!"

Everyone turned to the male Team Yell grunt that said that.

"..."

"Forget I said anything!" The grunt yelled.

Marnie pouted as she turned back to the battle.

"Scraggy! Get up and use Revenge!"

"Eh? But isn't he already-?"

*Bam!*

The next thing Victor knew, Ace flew right passed him and crashed into one of the trees behind him, stunning him and all his pokemon.

"What... What just happened?" He turned around and saw... a tree truck with Hop's imprint in it? But more importantly, Ace was now on the same tree, face first.

Victor turned back to see the Scaggy on his feet now, one hand holding his saggy skin with the other in a fist that was steaming. He had dirt and a bruised face, yet looked both calm and determined, acting as if nothing happened to him.

"Yell Yeah!! Scraggy! You da man!" One of the grunts cheered.

"Oi! Ya bampop! Marnie's three pokemon are shes!" Another pointed out.

Victor simply stared as Ace fell off the tree and onto his back, swirling eyes and twitching in pain. He left his own even  _ deeper _ imprint in the tree within the outline of Hop's imprint, rather amusing to see.

But Victor didn't examine the tree and instead, turned back to Marnie with sparkling eyes. "WOW! So cool! I didn't expect her to get back up!"

Scraggy grunted as she wiped some of the dirt off her face while Marnie formed the slightest of changes of her lips, one barely noticeable to anyone.

"K-Kirl, Kirlia." Midori pointed at Ace on the floor in concern.

"Oh, right! Thank you for your hard work, Ace!" Victor turned back and returned his unconscious starter back into his pokeball. "Now then..."

Victor turned back to Marnie and grinned, then reaching into his backpack and pulling out Tesla. "You're up buddy!"

"Zzzz... Charja, Charja..." His sleep bubble grew and shrank.

_ "Cute..."  _ Marnie stared from afar with a bright aura.

"Go, Tesla!" Victor raised him up with both hands before flinging him forward to the middle of the field.

He plopped right onto the ground, not even fazed at all and continuing to sleep.

Scraggy just raised an eyebrow and scooted close to Tesla.

"U-Um...?" Marnie wasn't sure if she should be attacking or not.

"Oh for the love of god..." Victor grabbed his backpack and dug through it, then pulling out a berry from a Ziploc bag. "Wake up!" He shouted as he tossed it.

The berry landed right in front of Tesla. His sleep bubble popping as he picked up on its scent. "*Sniff* *Sniff* Charja?"

He opened his eyes and blinked several times, then squirming forward and shoving the berry into his mouth.

"*Nom!* *Nom!* Charja! *burp!*" He then let out a sigh of bliss.

"Tesla! I need you now!"

Tesla turned and glanced back at Victor, then looking ahead at the Scraggy that, now that she saw him wake up, glared at him and ready to fight.

"Charja... Charja..." Tesla grumbled as he turned and faced his opponent, squishing and extending his accordion-like body back and forth to stretch his muscles.

The blue screens that were his eyes suddenly showed angry glowing yellow.

"Charja!"

Seeing him up and ready, Marnie got pumped up again with her serious expression returning.

"Scraggy! Use Headbutt!"

"Scrag!" Her pokemon dashed forward and dived forward headfirst.

"Wrap her around with String Shot!"

"Char-BLEH!!" Telsa's opened his mouth and stringy silk was sent right at the incoming Scraggy.

"Scrag!?" She was caught off guard as the string wrapped all over her body, only leaving her head free of it. However, connecting to the cocoon around her with a long trail of thick string stretching all the way over to Tesla.

"Now slam her down!"

"Char-!" Tesla's eyes flashed menacingly as he closed his mouth on the string and tightly held onto it, then heavily swinging Scraggy as hard as he could. "-JA!"

Tesla swung Scraggy  _ through _ a tree, splitting the trunk in half while breaking the string wrapped around in the process.

Everyone deadpanned in black and white as Scraggy comically rolled on the ground until she crashed into another tree, this time, only bouncing off of it before landing on the ground, groaning and twitching disturbingly.

"Tesla! I told you to slam her  _ down _ ! Not into a bloody tree!" Victor shouted.

Charjabug turned back to him looking completely confused.

"Charja?"

_ "Just because it worked doesn't mean it's alright!"  _ Victor desperately wanted to shout but didn't.

Marnie was blue from shock as she returned her Scraggy with a shiver. "W-We m-might need to g-get you h-healed up... Twice."

"Tesla! Next time, just do exactly what I say! We don't need anyone dying today!"

"..." Tesla tilted his head. "Charja?"

_ "WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'You don't?'!?!"  _ Victor and his pokemon were blue in their own shock now.

Victor furiously shook his head to answer Tesla.

Telsa sighed before turning around while grumbling.

Marnie calmed down by now, taking deep breaths, before then pointing forward.

"G-Go Morpeko!"

Marnie's Morpeko had been standing beside her trainer the entire battle. Despite what happened to Scraggy, she frowned and looked more pumped up than ever as she scurried forward to fight.

"Yeah! Morpeko!"

"Our goddess' royal protector!"

Team Yell kept cheering for Morpeko as she stopped a few feet away from Tesla and then stood up her feet.

"Mor..." Morpeko used both of his tiny hands to rub her pink cheeks and start conducting electricity in them. She then burst out in a black aura as her happy and bubbly look that was her Fully Belly mode now changed into her angry and hostile Hangry mode. "PEKO!!"

Tesla seemed to frown, then bursting out his own aura of energy, "Charja!"

"Oo! Looks like they're both fired up!" Victor grinned.

"Morpeko, use Thunder Shock!" Marnie pointed.

"Mor!" Morpeko jumped up and his cheeks sparked yellow before he blasted a jolt of electricity at Tesla.

"Use Charge!"

Tesla's body started glowing yellow and charged electricity in his body, also raising its Special Defense as he prepared to take Morepeko's attack.

_ "From what Tesla told me, he isn't that fast, but he's VERY tough."  _ Victor recalled as he watched the jolt of electricity strike his electric pokemon in a small explosion.

Dust was kicked up but didn't remain for long, revealing Tesla just looking a little angrier.

"Charja!" He shook some dirt off him.

Marnie looked nervous,  _ "I didn't think about this before, but ain't this a really bad matchup for Morpeko?" _

"Nice, Tesla! Now use String Shot!"

"Avoid it and get close with Quick Attack!" Marnie countered.

"Char!" Tesla opened his mouth and once more fired strands of silk towards Morpeko.

"Mor!" Morpeko started glowing white before running in blazing speeds, vanishing from spot to spot and easily avoiding the straight line of silk.

"Jump and Bite!" Marnie instructed next.

"Mor!" The angry Morpeko leaped into the air with his jaws open as he fell towards Tesla.

"Catch him with Sticky Web!"

"Char!" All of a sudden, Tesla looked up and opened his mouth once more, sending out globs of sticky material up in the air.

_ "Does everything just come out of his mouth!?" _ Victor wondered, looking kinda uncomfortable thinking about that.

"Mor-bleh!?!" Morpeko was shocked when these blobs hit her and covered her in webs, some of it even getting in  _ her _ mouth. But she was now successfully entangled in the air.

"Morpeko!" Marnie yelled in worried.

"Yell NO!!" Team Yell shouted in comedic horror.

"Now Sting Shot again!"

Tesla was getting tired of opening his mouth, but still fired one last line of sticky silk that wrapped around the web-covered Morpeko.

"Now slam her down!"

"CHAR-!"

"DOWN, Tesla! DOWN! As in on the ground!" Victor made sure to shout.

Tesla frowned but still pulled Morpeko from the air as hard as he could. Everyone watched as once again, with tremendous force, Tesla swung the string and slammed Morpeko into the ground with a large explosion of force. Sending dirt and dust flying and forcing everyone watching to cover their eyes as to not be blinded.

When everyone looked again, there was a small crater in the ground with a webbed-up, dirt-covered, and unconscious Morpeko with her tongue comedically sticking out.

"NOOOO!!!!" Team Yell shout with looks of agony.

Tesla used his jagged teeth to chomp off the string, then opening his mouth with a deep breath.

"CHARJAAAAAA!!!" He shrieked with the blue screens of his eyes blazing with more power than ever.

"Good job Tesla! But you don't have to shout every time you win!" Victor laughed.

Tesla didn't seem to hear him, as he was already sleeping on his side.

"Charja, Charja... Zzzzz..."

"Oh of course..." Victor sighed.

"M-Morpeko!" Marnie ran over to the small crater and pulled her pokemon out of the webs and string, then holding her right in front of her.

"A-Are you alright!?"

Morpeko just let out a groan as her eyes remained in swirls.

Marnie looked down as she held her Morpeko with one arm and pulled out her last Dusk Ball and returned her pokemon into it.

She then turned her head away with a look that almost seemed to be shame. "You beat me... Guess you must not be too bad after all, huh?"

"Our poor goddess..." Team Yell were all hunched over with depressing auras around them.

Victor was more focused on Marnie than Team Yell, as he didn't like seeing the girl down, not one bit.

"But you were so cool! The face you make when battling looks so serious, it just shouts power! And I loved that awesome combo you did at the start of our battle, it caught me so off guard! Then your Scraggy got up and knocked out Ace like it was nothing even after being smashed into the ground! Your pokemon are amazing too!" He said, brimming with light.

The horn-like tufts of Marnie's hair fluttered.

"Y-You... You really think so?" Her cheeks had a tint of red in them.

"Of course! Right guys!?" Victor turned to Team Yell, who all regained their energy when they heard him ask.

"Yell yeah! Our Marnie always gives the most incredible battles!" One of the males yelled before blowing his Y-shaped horn.

"She's too awesome!" One of the females yelled while raising her banner proudly.

"Marnie!!" They all shouted.

"You... You lot..." Marnie muttered, the tiniest of smiles forming the corners of her mouth.

"Marnie!" Victor cheered too, holding up his own banner of the girl.

However, when Marnie turned and saw Victor holding that banner, her eyes widened and her mouth opened as the entirety of her face became as red as a Sizzlipede.

"Wha-Wha-Where did you get that!?!" She squeaked out in complete shock.

Victor proudly sparkled as he held the banner above his head, "I got this when I met up your fans in the second Galar Mines! It's a beautiful sign of not just my friendship with you, but with them as well!"

"Amen!" Team Yell shouted.

"Wha-huh!? Don't tell me ya gonna join Team Yell!?!" Marnier stammered.

"Hm? Oh no, I can't possibly join an organization to support one person for the rest of my life, I've got dreams to make come true. But I'll still support you any way I can Marnie!"

"N-No! You can't have that!" Marnie suddenly ran up to Victor and tried to take the banner of herself, but Victor backed up while holding it out.

"Huh!? I can't?" Victor held the banner up as high as he could while stretching his body so it was out of Marnie's reach.

"G-Give it here!" Marnie jumped with her hands reaching out with a flustered face.

"But it was a gift! Why can't I have it!?" Victor asked as he moved the banner from one side to the other to avoid a frantically jumping Marnie.

The girl stopped for a moment with adorably watery eyes, her head steaming at this point.

"B-Because it's embarassin' if more people have them!"

_ "So cute."  _ Victor and Team Yell had their eyes closed with looks of peaceful glowing auras around them as if they were just blessed from the heavens themselves.

"Give it here!" With this momentary distraction, Marnie dived at Victor.

"Wha-WHOA!!" The boy was caught off guard as Marnie tackled him to the ground.

Victor felt the back of his head hit the ground, closing his eyes as he flinched in pain.

"Ow... Ow... Did you really have to-?"

When Victor opened his eyes, he was shocked to find Marnie's widened eyes right in front of his.

Victor had his arms back, still holding onto the banner while the rest of his body was laid on his back straight against the ground.

Marnie on the other hand, had both of her knees on the ground beside Victor's waist while both of her hands were next to both sides of his head. Her head was right above Victor's, her face inches above his, and both forgetting everything that was happening before as they were suddenly drawn to each other's eyes.

Everything was silent as Victor and Marnie both stared at each other in surprise. They both blinked as if processing what happened. Both could hear each other's gentle breathing, they swore they could hear each other's heartbeat go up, and Victor even picked up a pleasant berry-scent from her, no doubt the shampoo she used.

Team Yell all stood on the side in black and white colors of shock, staring at the scene completely frozen.

Twilight rolled his eyes while Midori lightly blushed by what he saw.

"Um..." Surprisingly, even Victor felt his own cheeks warm, "Shouldn't you... get off?"

That seemed to snap Marnie out of the trance she realized the compromising position she was in.

And if you didn't think she could turn redder, the rest of her entire body turned crimson to match her face.

She shot up to her feet, backing away from Victor as both of her hands found their way to her cheeks.

"I-I-I-I-!" Steam came up from her head.

"Marnie!" Team Yell all surrounded her in worry while Victor sat up from his spot on the ground, somewhat embarrassed but chuckling.

"Well, that was... That was awkward." He muttered to himself as he pulled himself back to his feet, still holding the banner of Marnie. "Might as well put this away before Marnie remembers it."

_ "We were so close! W-We almost ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-ki-!" _ Marnie suddenly found herself becoming dizzy.

Then she blacked out.

"MARNIE!?!"

"Eh?" Victor was putting his backpack back on when he heard the extremely worried tone of Team Yell. He glanced over at them, noticing that Marnie was being held up only by them. "Huh!? What happened!?"

He rushed over and saw that Marnie had swirls in her eyes, her head still steaming as she groaned.

"Look what ya did! Ya knocked her out!" One of the grunts shouted.

"What!?!" Victor was baffled. "I don't know what I did, but we should get her somewhere!"

Victor turned to his pokemon and quickly returned them back into their pokeballs, then turning back to Team Yell confidently.

"The closest place should be the Budew Inn! I'll take her there!" Victor took Marnie from the Team Yell members supporting her, picking her up bridal style. "I'll get her home safely!"

"Wha-!? What in the hell are ya doing carrying her like-!"

"You guys should all get home! Good night!" Victor suddenly blasted away rather quickly for a human, leaving some dust behind.

Team Yell all stared in disbelief by what just happened.

"Did... Did he just...?"

"With our Marnie...?"

"He's takin' her to a room...?"

"All alone?"

"..."

"..."

"WE GOTTA TELL PIERS!"

* * *

** ~{A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"U-Um... I'm sorry challenger Vict-"

"Just Victor, please." The boy insisted with a smile despite carrying an unconscious Marie in his arms.

"Okay, Victor. I'm sorry to say but we don't have two rooms available, just one last one on the top floor.

Victor had a straight-faced expression. "Eh?"

"All of our rooms, but one, are filled out. Many people came to this inn out of excitement to see you or your other two friends fight against Kabu. Challenger Hop and Gloria actually took two rooms before you did about two hours ago."

_ "So Hop and Gloria ARE here?" _ Victor sighed.  _ "I might have to crash with Hop... But I don't even think he'd wake up if I knocked on his door, and his snoring drives me insane... I guess I'm leaving Marnie and sleeping outside tonight." _

"I'll take that last room please..." Victor sighed.

"For  _ both _ of you?" The receptionist chuckled.

Victor stared at him with an unamused expression.

The man sweatdropped.

"Er... I'll just give you your key." He brought the keycard.

"Midori, some help?" Victor called.

From his backpack, his pokeball clicked open and out came Midori, smiling to help him.

"Kirl! Kirl!"

The receptionist smiled as he handed the pokemon the keycard. "Your room is on the top floor at the end of the hall. Good night."

Victor and Midori then went into the elevator, with Midori being the ones to push the buttons.

Both waited patiently as they felt raised up, listening to the nice and relaxing elevator music-

_ *Never gonna give-you-up! Never gonna let-you-down!* _

Victor and Midori had blank expressions.

*  _ Never gonna run-a-round and, desert you!* _

"Why do I get the feeling this won't be the last time I hear this?"

Midori nodded.

_ *Never gonna make-you-cry! Never gonna say-good-bye!* _

_ "Open,open,open,open,open!" _ Victor thought as the elevator reached their destination.

They rushed out of it and made their way down the hall, letting out breaths of relief.

"That song really annoys me..." Victor muttered.

"Kirl?" Midori glanced up at him.

"Hm? Oh... I don't actually know why." Victor answered, looking rather confused himself. "But... I feel like I've heard it before."

"Kirlia?"

"No, not from that guy's ringtone. I think... maybe even before."

They didn't think much more about it as they made it to the room at the end of the hall.

Midori used his psychic powers to float the keycard to the device over the doorknob. The black cube blinked green and the door unlocked, to which Midori used his powers again to turn the knob and pull the door open.

"Heh, looks like your powers are getting stronger." Victor grinned.

Midori happily smiled as Victor walked into the room, heading right towards the bed.

"Okay, easy now..." He gently placed Marnie on the bed, then getting up and wiping his head. "Phew, there we go."

"Mm..." Marnie grumbled.

"Oh, and perfect timing too."

Marnie sat up and rubbed her eyes, starting to wake up.

"Hm... What... happened?"

It took her a moment to regain her vision, but when she did, her attention was placed on the boy of the room.

"Vic...tor?" She mumbled, blinking a few times before glancing around the room. "Where-?"

"The Budew Inn. You suddenly fainted, so I took carried you to this room." Victor walked back and pulled out a chair from a nearby desk, turning it and sitting down to face Marnie with a look of concern. "How are you feeling? You really surprised Team Yell and I when you fainted."

"When I...?" Marnie mumbled, looking down and rubbing her head to recall what happened.

Which she did.

Her eyes widened and her face turned red, not as red as last time, but still embarrassingly red.

_ "W-We a-almost k-k-k-!" _

"Erm... Was it about when we fell over?" Victor asked while scratching his cheek with an awkward smile.

Marnie flinched, nervously turning to him. "U-Um..."

"From what Team Yell told me and from what I know, you're not used to being around people, right? So I can imagine being  _ that  _ close to someone isn't something you're used to... I'm not either, to be honest. Well, not face to face like that, anyway." Victor awkwardly chuckled. 

Marnie looked... calmer, at least. She nervously nodded as she turned her body so her legs hung over the side.

"So... Um, ya... c-c-carried me... h-h-here...?"

"Sure did. Don't worry, you weren't heavy." 

Marnie's head poofed in red again and she looked down, feeling her embarrassment grow.

Victor laughed at how adorable she was before standing up and stretching his arms.

"Well, it's really late now, I probably shouldn't stay too long. So I'm gonna head out and find somewhere to sleep. Thanks for the battle Marnie, it was really fun." He smiled.

Marnie fiddled with her fingers, "Y-Yeah... I-It was really fun... Wait, did ya say,  _ find _ a place to sleep?"

"Yeah." Victor sighed as he strapped on his backpack tightly while Midori stretched his legs a bit. "Turns out this is the last room available in the inn. Don't worry, it's yours."

"Eh!?" Marnie got off the bed and stood up, "W-Wait, then where are ya gonna sleep?"

Victor shrugged, "Well, there aren't any more inns or hotels nearby, so I might just sleep outside somewhere."

"H-Huh? Out... side?" Marnie couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Yeah, wouldn't be the first time." Victor joked as Midori hopped onto his backpack. "Have a good night, Marnie! I hope you can watch us take on Kabu tomorrow!"

He made his way to the door.

"W-Wait!" Marnie squeaked.

"Hm?" Victor glanced back at her, "What?"

Marnie visibly fidgeted as her eyes looked down to the ground.

"U-Um... Y-Ya c-can... stay here..."

"Sorry, can't do that." Victor immediately waved it off with a blank look. "There's no way I'd take away a girl's place to sleep for my own wellbeing."

Midori nodded proudly with a smile.

"B-But... I'd feel bad to let ya go out there findin' someplace ta sleep so late..."

"Oh don't worry Marnie, I'll be fine-"

"S-So just stay here with me!" Marnie stammered with a yell.

There was an awkward moment of silence, with Victor staring at surprise at Marnie while the girl had both her eyes and mouth wide open as if shocking herself by what she said.

"Um... Are you really okay with that?" Victor tilted his head with a look that didn't seem so sure. "From what I've been told... don't girls find it uncomfortable to sleep in the same room as a boy?"

"W-Well..." 

Marnie found herself thinking back to when she was just an even smaller and more precious child. She was sitting beside her older brother, Spikemuth's Gym Leader, Piers, who had much shorter hair at the time. She remembered him having a serious talk with her as she held a recently caught Morpeko in her arms.

_ "Listen Marnie, whatever you do, you should never ever, and I mean NEVER, sleep alone in the same room with a lad all alone!" _

_ "But what if it's a sleepover?"  _ A five-year-old Marnie asked her older brother.

_ "Nope, nu-uh, no way. Ya don't know what they'd do. Girls have to be careful when they trust boys, because a lot of times, those boys may be bad." _

_ "B-Bad!? B-But how do ya know how to trust one then!?"  _ Tiny Marnie panicked.

_ "Easy, you have them talk to me first!"  _ Piers boomed as he pointed a thumb at himself.

Marnie... didn't look so sure about that.  _ "Is that how mum trusted da?" _

_ "..."  _ At the mention of their mother, Piers looked down with his eyes narrowing, then sighing as he rubbed the back of his head.  _ "No... She just said something about looking into his eyes and... finding out just what kind of person he is. I don't really buy that, though." _

_ "Looking... into his eyes?" _

Present Marnie raised her head and her face changed back into her usual serious look.

"Eh? What's wrong?" Victor asked, noticing her change in expression.

"Victor... Could you do something for me?"

"Of course!" Victor didn't hesitate, looking pumped up to be of service. "Anything you need!"

Marnie saw a sincere desire to help in Victor's eyes.

"Can you... Just look at me?"

A question mark appeared over both Midori and Victor.

"Eh?"

"J-J-Just for a second!" Marnie quickly added.

"O...kay?"

_ "There must be a reason, I shouldn't question her." _

Marnie stepped forward so she was a few inches from Victor, nervously staring up directly into his eyes as her body shivered.

For now, she only saw a calm but confused look.

"I-I-I... I'm gonna... ask a few things, okay?"

"Alright." Victor nodded.

Marnie gulped.

"A-Are, are we friends?"

"Of course!" Victor answered immediately, his eyes reflecting his sincerity.

Marnie once again felt a warmth from just hearing confirmation.

"O-Okay..." She took a deep breath. "Do you... Do you  _ want _ to sleep in the same room with me?"

She thought this was the appropriate question to get a clear answer.

Victor smiled, "I want to sleep where it makes you the most comfortable."

"Eh?" Marnie blinked repeatedly when she heard that answer.

She saw Victor's eyes reflect his care and consideration.

"I don't want you to feel bad for me, but I don't want to sleep in the same room if it makes you feel uneasy. I just..."

He shrugged. 

"I just want what makes you feel the most relaxed."

Marnie continued to stare up at Victor's eyes, her own eyes suddenly drawn to his by the truth coming from them. They were in silence now, with Victor feeling awkward in his spot but not moving his eyes away.

_ "E-Eh?" _

Marnie felt her heart thumping the more she stared up at Victor's gaze, feeling the heat go into her face.

From what she could tell, there was nothing malicious from him.

_ "That's right..." _

She remembered the things he said before.

_ "Of course not! There's no way I'd avoid someone like you, Marnie! You're an absolute treasure!" _

_ "If you ever need anything, Marnie, anything at all, then just let me know!" _

_ "Of course! Friends always help each other!" _

Marnie looked down, stopping her long period of eye contact with Victor.

"You're... really nice."

Victor's smile grew bigger as he heard such sweet words.

"You are too Marnie, you are too." He chuckled.

Marnie rose her head and formed the smallest of smiles.

"You can stay here. I'd actually be happy if you did. It'll be like a sleepover, hehe..."

_ "Awwwww..."  _ Victor smiled like he was blessed.

Midori smiled too as he hopped off Victor's backpack and started looking around the room they'd be staying in.

"Wanna go heal your pokemon?" Victor then piped up.

Marnie nodded. "Yeah... Let's go."

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Pokemon Center-12:05PM}~ **

The Pokemon Center was empty other than one nurse that received Marnie's three pokeballs and two of Victor's Pokeballs, since Midori and Twilight were completely healthy.

"We'll heal your pokemon, Gym Challenger Victor."

" _ Please _ just Victor." The boy sighed.

"Oh, alright Victor." The nurse smiled. "Just remember that other services are closed past eleven."

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind." Victor nodded.

The nurse turned around to their healing machine and placed their Pokeballs in it. After a few seconds, the signature healing jingle echoed in the Pokemon Center.

"There you go." The nurse smiled as she handed Victor and Marnie their pokemon back.

"Thank you very much!" Victor smiled.

"You're welcome." The nurse smiled, her gaze then going to Marnie.

_ "Eep!" _ The nurse flinched when she saw the cold, stoic gaze coming from the girl, feeling as if her soul was being gazed upon.

"W-Well, good night! Good luck on your challenge!" She suddenly retreated through a door that only employees were allowed to go.

"Hm? Why'd she-?" He turned his head and was shocked to find Marnie looking down with a depressed aura around her. "Huh!? What's wrong!?"

"Just... Something I'm used to..." She mumbled.

Victor raised an eyebrow before realizing why the nurse must've run away.

"Oh." He then gave a sad smile. "Don't worry Marnie. Soon everyone will know how great you are."

"Do you really think that?" Marnie asked, glancing up at him and not looking too convinced.

"Of course! Once you make it to the big leagues with me, then more attention is gonna be set on you! Then you'll get even more fans that'll support and love you!"

"L-Like Team Yell?" Marnie asked nervously.

"Er- No, not like them." Victor sweatdropped. "More like all the kinds of fans that all the Gym Leaders and Leon have."

Marnie looked down, thinking about it.

"That's... a nice thought."

"Or if you  _ already _ want everyone to know how great you are, then just get into an interview! If you express yourself and everyone sees it, then they'll see how cute you are! And everyone loves cute things!"

_ "Cute!?" _ Marnie suddenly poofed into red again, this being the second time he called her that.

"Th-Th-Thank you..." She managed to utter out.

"Awww, you're welcome." Victor smiled.

They then headed back to the Inn.

Victor breathed in the midnight air as he stretched his arms up, Midori mimicking his actions behind him. Marnie nuzzled her face against her Morpeko's cheek, both of them visibly happy.

"Oh yeah, speaking of your fans-" Victor turned to Marnie. "I'm actually kind of curious. Team Yell said that Piers actually 'formed' the group. Did Spikemuth's Gym Leader really create a whole group devoted to you? He even endorsed you, right?"

"U-Um, well..." Marnie nervously looked down, lowering her Morpeko from her face. "He's kinda... my brother."

Victor stopped and stared at her with bulging eyes.

"Really!? Piers is your older brother! Oh, that makes  _ so _ much sense!" He remembered Rose mentioning that Piers endorsed Marnie, he remembered Team Yell saying that Piers created their group for Marnie, and he remembered how afraid the nurse seemed to be of her.

"Yeah... He's a really good brother, but he tends to go... 'overboard' when it comes to me."

They made it to the inn.

"You mean forming Team Yell entirely to support you?" Victor chuckled.

Marnie flushed in some embarrassment, "Y-Yeah... W-Well, I don't know if he entirely created it... But I know they were around ever since I was five..."

_ "THAT long!?" _ Victor deadpanned.

They walked through the lobby.

"When I was little... I... I was always pretty shy..." Marnie knew that she also cried a lot, but didn't wanna include that embarrassing part. "But on a certain day, I became... scared."

"Scared? Of what?"

Marnie looked down, and her Morpeko looked up to her with a sad look.

"One time I went outside of Spikemuth because I got curious... Then... I just remember other kids calling me names... Running away from me..."

"Because you were from Spikemuth..." Victor stated with a frustrated sigh.

Marnie nodded, the frustration from Victor actually making her feel pretty happy, just knowing that she had a new friend that understood.

"Yeah... That day had me runnin' back to Piers, crying... And I became scared that people would hate me, that they  _ do  _ hate me, that they might even try to hurt me... And because of that, I didn't wanna talk to anyone."

They reached the elevator but didn't go in. Victor stared at Marnie while the girl had her head down with Morpeko keeping a close eye on her sad expression.

"Mor... Mor." Morpeko nuzzled herself against Marnie, trying to cheer her up.

Marie hugged her tightly and did feel herself lighten up.

"Piers saw just how... 'bad' I seemed. So, he did something earlier than he had been planning to."

"And what was that?" Victor asked as he pressed the elevator button.

Marnie turned her head and looked at Victor, with a tiny smile.

_ "Awww. I hope I can see her biggest smile one day." _ Victor hoped.

"Piers caught me my first pokemon." Marnie lifted her Morpeko in front of her, both of them facing each other. "Little Morpeko here."

"Mor! Morpeko!" Her pokemon cheered.

*Ding!*

The elevator door opened, but the group was caught up in their own happiness.

"When I got Morpeko... I was a little scared of her. But then we started playing together, and I became the happiest I've ever been. Heh... Then Piers gathered up everyone in Spikemuth and formally introduced them to me. I never really talked to any of them before because I was too nervous..."

Marnie and Victor didn't seem to care as the elevator door closed again. Victor just had all of his attention on Marnie while the girl stared at him and continued reminiscing.

"They looked pretty scary to me, all of them eyein' me... Then when I finally said hi, pfft-!"

Victor's eyes widened as he heard the tiniest of laughs from Marnie.

"They all instantly melted in front of me... Loved me instantly. It was... surprisin'. And then Piers started ranting on about what a good girl I am an' how he wanted everyone to treat me well. He wanted them to always yell for me, cheer for me, and always support me..."

_ "And thus... Team Yell was born." _ Victor thought with a warm smile.

"I ended up playing with Team Yell every day. It was always me battlin' them with Morpeko... Piers ended up noticin' that I was actually a pretty good trainer."

"So then he wanted you to take the Gym Challenge?" Victor asked as he pressed the elevator button again while still keeping his gaze on Marnie.

Marnie shook her head. "Nope, he didn't want me to."

"Eh?"

"Piers didn't really want me takin' the Gym Challenge. He wanted me to take over for him as Spikemuth's Gym Leader... He thinks that I would be a betta person than him."

*Ding!*

The elevator door opened up once again.

"Wait, he really didn't want you to be in the challenge?" Victor repeated in surprise.

Marnie nodded, "Yeah. And for a while, I didn't really wanna leave Spikemuth anyway, so I didn't think too much of it. But..."

"But...?" Victor asked, sticking his hand out and grabbing the doors this time as they started closing again.

Seeing Victor grab hold on the doors, Marnie snapped out of her still state. "Ah! S-Sorry!" She rushed inside the elevator and Victor went in with her, still intrigued.

"You don't have to say sorry. Anyways, you were saying?" Victor asked as he pressed the button for the top floor.

Marnie looked up as she thought about what she was saying.

"Ah, right. So..." The elevator doors closed. "I ended up wanting to take the Gym Challenge when... Piers showed me how Spikemuth used to look."

"Used to look?" Victor's eyes widened, immediately recalling what he was told about Spikemuth before.

Marnie looked unsure if she should say anything.

"U-Um... I-I'm not sure you'll believe me... But Spikemuth didn't always look like the way it does. It-"

"Its Power Spot just... ran out of power, right?" Victor interrupted, knowing fully well what she was going to say.

"Eh?" Marnie and Morpeko turned to him with pure surprise on their faces. "H-How do ya-?"

"The brightest and the loudest place in Galar, a town both prosperous and bright, and popular for both its music and partying." Victor smiled. "I heard about it before."

"I don't know how ya know, since folks don't have any info about it lying around anywhere... But at least that saves me the trouble of explainin'."

*Ding!*

The doors opened up, cueing Victor and Marnie to step out, although both refusing to look away from each other as they talked.

"Piers has a photo album. It's got pictures of how it looked so long ago. It was... beautiful." Marnie seemed to be in a trance as she let out a happy sigh. "It was exactly like ya said. Bright, a lot of partyin', and... so many happy faces of older Team Yell members and people from Galar."

"It really does sound nice." Victor remarked.

"Yeah... So the moment I saw how amazing Spikemuth was before, I wanted to turn back time!"

"Say what now?"

"U-Um, not literally!" Marnie stammered with a small blush. "I decided that I want to breathe back life into ma hometown! Brin' it back to what it was before!"

Marnie now looked rather serious as she and Victor stopped in front of their room door.

"I'm goin' ta become champion and show everyone how amazing Spikemuth is! I'm gonna do whatever it takes to help ma town become as amazin' as back then! Piers knew I wouldn't change my mind, so he just  _ had _ to endorse me!" Marnie sparkled as she said this while her Morpeko cheered and clapped her little paws together.

_ "Such a pure goal too!" _ Victor thought with a bright aura of bliss around him.

"Oh Marnie, if people just realized how cute you are, then they'd probably flood Spikemuth just to see you." He joked.

Marnie's head once again suddenly poofed with her face turning red and steam coming out.

"S-Stop that!"

"Eh? Stop what?" Victor tilted his head with a question mark appearing over it.

"Calling me c-c-c-!" She had her eyes closed as she struggled to get the words out.

"Cute?"

"Y-Yeah!" Marnie stammered.

"Aw, how adorable~" Victor chuckled.

"D-Don't just change the word!"

Morpeko stared with a blank face at Victor teasing her trainer so casually

She... didn't know how to feel about this.

* * *

** ~{A Few Minutes Later}~ **

Morpeko, Croagunk, and Scraggy all stared at Victor with narrow eyes, keeping their suspicious gazes on him as the faint sounds of the shower rang just behind a closed door.

Victor just stared at them back, his own pokemon already making the corner of the room into like a little fort for them to sleep in. He was sitting on a chair but facing Marnie's pokemon with a big smile on his face, showing no signs of interest that Marnie was showering. He had on a plain gray T-shirt with a Wooloo logo on the center of his chest, dark blue shorts, and had some black sandals too.

"So you've known Marnie ever since she was tiny?" He asked Morpeko, but chuckling at his own rhyme.

Morpeko stood up on the bed and tried looking tough, nodding to answer him.

"And what about you guys?" He referred to Croagunk and Scraggy. "Did Marnie meet you guys in the Wild Area?"

The two of them nodded, still cautiously glaring at him.

Victor stood up while lifting his chair with him, getting close to the bed before sitting down again.

"You guys are awesome!" He exclaimed, making the pokemon tilt their heads. "And our battle was fun, too!"

"Raboot... Raboot..." Ace grumbled, keeping his back to them.

"Heh, heh, Ace seems to be a little sour about getting knocked out pretty hard." Victor giggled, also prompting a rather smug smile from Scraggy.

Ace glanced back with a glare, almost challenging any of them to say something else.

"Oh Ace, you know I love you! And you're just getting stronger from here!" Victor reassured him.

"Hmph..." Ace turned around and crossed his arm.

"Kirl!" Midori hopped onto the bed with the pokemon, a big smile on his face as he said hi.

Croagunk seemed to be the most polite, walking to Midori and offering a handshake, which the Psychic/Fairy type accepted. "Gunk."

Scraggy just did a nod of friendliness for Midori while Morpeko tilted her head at him.

"Oh! That's right! I should formally introduce you guys!"

Victor got up and present Midori.

"You've met Midori, the cheerful Kirla that uplifts my team's spirits!"

Midori smiled as he bowed.

Victor then turned and pointed over at Ace sitting in a cross-legged manner.

"Right there is Ace! My starter and the longest companion I've had for my journey! He may seem moody now, but he's actually a really sweet guy!"

Ace turned back once again with a glare.

Victor then turned the spotlight to Twilight, who was perched on another chair.

"Right there is the proud and serious acrobatic flyer of my group, Twilight!"

Twilight nodded respectfully at them. "Cor."

Victor then twirled before pointing at the last member with him.

"And last, but  _ definitely _ not least, we've got the lazy and gluttonous powerhouse, Tesla! Say hi, buddy!"

Tesla was still in Victor's backpack, laying on its stomach. "Charja... Charja... Zzzz..."

"..."

"Yeah, he sleeps a lot." Victor shrugged.

Marnie's three pokemon sweatdropped.

"But  _ anyway- _ !" Victor turned back to the trio, sitting back down on his chair with a big smile. "I hope we can all be friends together!"

Morpeko still looked rather suspiciously at Victor, but Scraggy and Croagunk stopped those hostile looks and seemed to relax a bit, neither one showing reluctance.

They then heard a door unlock and slowly open up, making Victor and Marnie's pokemon turn their heads.

Victor's eyes then widened as he saw something amazing.

Marnie was wearing a onesie that was based on a Scrafty, her hood even being of its head. She shyly put it over her head with her hair still tied up into their usual horned-tufts.

_ "Damn, I really would've wanted to see her with her hair down, but she looks SO cute anyway with that onesie!" _

"U-Um..." Marnie was rather red as she nervously stepped out, clearly looking embarrassed that Victor was staring at what she was wearing.

"Don't worry! Gloria wears one too!" Victor immediately exclaimed with sparkling eyes. "It's cute, amazing, and really comfy! I've put one on before! Be proud of it!"

"C-C-Can ya stop just blurtin' things out like that!?" Marnie stammered in a shy shout. 

"Ah, whoops. Force of habit." Victor awkwardly chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Mor! Mor!" Morpeko jumped off the bed and happily ran to Marnie, then jumping up into her arms to be held once again.

"Your pokemon really are amazing." Victor chuckled as he watched the other two jump from the bed and happily gather around Marnie.

"Th-Thanks..." Marnie shyly walked over while hugging Morpeko and sat on the corner of the bed, a few feet in front of Victor.

"But why didn't you give them any nicknames?" Victor tilted his head.

Marnie looked down, "Piers never did name his pokemon, so I didn't either to be like him..."

_ "But Gym Leaders don't name the pokemon they use because it's a necessary formality."  _ Victor thought. He was about to point this out, but saw how brightened Marnie seemed to look.  _ "Probably shouldn't." _

There was then a moment of silence between them, with Marnie looking more nervous as time went by.

"U-Um..." She slowly turned her head and looked at the bed she was sitting on, one that looked to have enough space to fit two people.

She actually felt her heart start to beat faster and faster, rampaging as Marnie thought about sharing a bed.

_ "W-W-We're gonna be really close..." _

She gulped nervously, hugging Morpeko tighter.

_ "Wh-What if I roll into his side? Wh-Wh-What if HE rolls into my side!? I-I-I don't want Morpeko suddenly attackin' him..." _

She closed her eyes as she started turning red.

_ "Wh-What if my pokemon act like a wall between us? No... Wh-what if one of us rolls on them!?" _

"Well, I guess it's time to go to bed... It's really late." Victor sighed, not feeling tired at all.

_ "Eh!?" _ Marnie was shocked to hear how calm he sounded about their situation.

"Twilight, turn off the lights please. Then you guys can cuddle around me if you want."

_ "C-C-CUDDLE!?" _ Marnie thought.

Victor walked over to his backpack, pulling something out of it.

"Good night, Marnie!" He sounded cheerful, no signs of any nervousness at all.

Marnie finally raised her head with her eyes open, letting go of Morpeko and flailing her arms around in panic.

"W-W-Wait!! H-H-How are ya so calm about-!?"

She suddenly stopped her speech and froze when she saw Victor climbing into something.

A sleeping bag.

He stared back at her with a perplexed look, blinking several times.

"Um... You alright?"

Marnie stared directly at him with a completely blank face, only her widened eyes showing some sort of emotion from them. Her three pokemon awkwardly stared up at her, understanding what she was thinking but now seeing that it was not the case.

Ace rolled his eyes, then hopping onto a pillow on the ground and laying his back on it.

"You... okay?" Victor asked Marnie again.

"Y-Y-Y-Y-Yeah..." Marnie stammered out, shaking on her bed when she saw Midori jump with Victor to sleep with him.

"Are you sure? 'Alright' people don't normally stutter like that-"

"I'mokaygoodnightVictor!!" Marnie squeaked in one breath, then suddenly diving into her bed and hiding under the covers.

Victor blinked in confusion before Ace sighed, "Raboot. Raboot."

His trainer lightly blushed,  _ "Oh... She thought...? Well... Oh wow, she must've felt really awkward..." _

He focused in on Marnie, but saw her three pokemon just kind of give shooing motions to Victor to just go to sleep. The three of them then dug underneath the covers to cuddle up with Marnie.

_ "They're all so cute." _ Victor chuckled.

*Click!*

He turned his head as he saw the lights go out, just the moonlight giving some light to the room from the window. He saw Twilight flying back after flicking the light switch, then perching himself onto a chair and relaxing there.

_ "I guess Twilight and Ace are too proud to sleep with me..." _ Victor comedically cried.

He felt a tug of his leg and looked down to see Midori smiling while holding a sleeping Tesla behind him.

That made Victor smile.

"Let's get some sleep."

As he was getting into his sleeping bag, Marnie had curled up into a ball and covered her face with both of her hands, steaming up the entire room by how embarrassed she was. Her three pokemon were around her, patting her reassuringly while also couldn't help but enjoy how adorably flustered she was.

_ "What was I thinkin'!? Of course he wouldn't wanna sleep in the same bed as me!" _

She let out a small groan.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-Spikemuth}~ **

Spikemuth was a rocking place.

This was what the seventh Gym Leader, considered the third strongest of Galar, Piers, thought of his home.

He's a slim, pale, and  _ very _ tired looking man who looked as if he had just woken up due to his droopy cyan-colored eyes with eyeshadow around them. He has long, spiky, black-and-white hair that covers one side of his face and has more of his hair tied into three also black-and-white ponytails.

He had on black and magenta shorts and shirt with the Dark-type symbol of his 'gym' on it. He also wore a cropped white jacket on top that has magenta diagonal stripes on the torso area and spikes on the wrist area. His shoes had heels and are grey with spikes pointing backward on the back of two bands around his shin.

He lightly tugged the collar around his neck with his glove-covered right hand, a collar identical to the one his precious little sister's neck as well. 

He lowered his arms and let them hang limply in front of him as he trudged through the old worn-down streets of Spikemuth. He's grown up here for all his life, understanding the passion and excitement that everyone residing brings. He knew that the true beauty of his town was with their people, not the place itself.

Piers looked around at the flickering lights and dark areas. Spikemuth looked like the most suspicious place in Galar, but ironically, it was actually the safest place to be. There was no Power Spot nearby so there wouldn't be any accidental Dynamaxing to wreck the place, and although Team Yell seemed like the could hurt you, the most they'd do was do a pokemon battle and yell at you, but they wouldn't even touch you.

And speaking of Team Yell...

"Piers!"

"Hm?" The glum-looking Gym Leader turned his head back with an apathetic gaze, seeing some of his Team Yell members running towards him in a panic. "What's up with you lot?"

The grunts stopped in front of Piers and started catching their breath as their leader turned to them.

"I-It's a code YELL!!" One of the grunts shouted.

Piers sighed as he rubbed his eyes, "I told ya guys that we're not rankin' emergencies based on how loud someone can be... Just tell me what's wrong."

"It's about Marnie!"

Pier's instantly grabbed the male and shook him back and forth with his eyes and mouth widened all the way.

"What's wrong!?! Is she hurt!? Where is she!? Why didn't you save her!?!"

"Piers! Marnie isn't hurt! She's at that inn in Motostoke!" One of the other grunts shouted.

The panic on Pier's face instantly changed back to his usual unemotional look as he let go of the grunt he was shaking.

"Hm? So what if she's stayin' at an inn? Of course she'd be there to sleep, wouldn't she?"

"B-But she's with a boy!"

"..."

Pier's expression didn't change.

"You wanna repeat that?"

The grunts started spouting out everything one at a time.

"Marnie's staying in a room!"

"She's there with a boy!"

"They're both alone!"

"They're gonna sleep there together!"

Pier's expression now changed to have a bug-eyed look.

"So you're telling me, that Marnie is in a room, sleeping  _ alone _ , with a  _ boy _ ?"

"Yes!!!!" The grunts shouted in sync.

Piers reached behind him and pulled out his mic stand out of nowhere, his grip tightly twisting on it with both hands.

"WHO is the lad?" Piers' face became shadowed as a black aura burst around him.

_ "EEP!!" _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ~{Author's Post-Notes}~
> 
> (Flying in a helicopter over the city with 4 stars in the corner)
> 
> Oooookay, so things escalated pretty quickly. B-But that's not important!
> 
> (Maneuvers around gunshots and rockets)
> 
> So our boy once again won another match against another strong trainer, but MAN was Tesla just... scary. Let's hope that Scrafty and Morpeko are alright. Oh, and they once again had such another cute moment together, *Squeal!* and boy do I love understandings, hehe. Oho? And what's this!? Piers!? I love that guy! I love his mood and just how amazing he is for the very FIRST Dark-type Gym Leader! Wait, isn't our boy in danger then? Uh oh.
> 
> (A rocket hits tail of the helicopter and 5 stars appear in the corner)
> 
> AAAAAAH! WHY DID I GET ANOTHER STAR FOR BEING HIT!?
> 
> (Helicopter spins and spins all the way into a building, exploding.)


	19. The Power Of The Flames

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu sitting on a seat within a flying bus)
> 
> Soooooooo yeah, I don't know how I ended up here...
> 
> (Glances around at several other individuals dressed either weird or looking the same.)
> 
> But apparently I'm waiting to be... deployed? I don't really know for sure. I just know I'm supposed to be the last one 'alive.' Well, I guess while I wait here, I can go over our previous chapter of Victor's adventure.
> 
> I think we all know how to summarize that previous chapter, just... HNNNNGGH! Marnie too precious but strong. And although Victor is the gentleman he always is, it seems that there's some danger coming to him from a Gym Leader out of everyone. I wonder how that's gonna end up? And what's he gonna do right now? Let's find out!
> 
> (Door to bus opens up, where people then start jumping off)
> 
> Welp, I guess this is my stop.
> 
> (Put's on backpack)
> 
> WHERE WE DROPPING BOYS!?

**~{Budew Inn-7:31AM}~**

"Always gotta be up and early, just like Lee says!"

Despite just saying this, Hop yawned as the elevator doors opened in the lobby, the boy walking out with Conga beside him sleepily like his trainer.

"My body doesn't seem to agree with me, though..." The champion's little brother mumbled as he started walking past the receptionist's desk.

"Ah, Gym Challenger Hop! Up rather early, aren't you?" The man behind the desk waved.

Hop sleepily turned to the man before shaking his head and slapping his cheeks with both hands to wake himself up.

He then grinned as he walked over.

"Yup! I wanna get ahead in this challenge as soon as possible! I've been training my pokemon nonstop yesterday, and now I want to finally put them to the test against Kabu! Ain't that right, Conga?"

His grass starter looked to have completely woken up as he raised both sticks in the air.

"Thwackey! Thwack!" Conga shouted confidently.

The receptionist clapped proudly, "Oh how I do look forward to watching your battle from here, it'll make this morning have at least some excitement."

"Thank you, I'll make sure you get an amazing battle from me!" Hop beamed. "Oh yeah! Can I ask you something?"

"If it's within my knowledge to answer." 

So Hop asked, "Have you seen Victor come through here?"

"Ah yes, Gym Challenger Victor." The receptionist remembered. "He actually arrived rather late yesterday night."

"He did?" Hop grinned to hear that his friend caught up with him and Gloria.

"Why yes, he arrived carrying Gym Challenger Marnie."

"Oh! Marnie too!? That's great- Wait a second." Hop suddenly had a straight-faced expression. "What do you mean 'carrying' her?"

The receptionist chuckled, "Well, Victor arrived carrying Marnie here. She was unconscious, though... I don't really know why."

"And... didn't you ask him why he was carrying her?"

"Oh please, if she was with Gym challenger Victor, then she'll be fine. And I'm sure someone from Spikemuth can protect themselves anyway."

_"I got a bad vibe coming from this guy."_ Hop thought with a frown.

"Okay... So they're still in the inn then?" Hop moved on.

"Why, yes, they came in and took the last room."

"Eh?" Hop face remained blank. "Together?"

The man nodded, " Correct. When I told Victor the unfortunate circumstances in which all of our other rooms were taken, he decided to simply accept the last one for himself and Gym Challenger Marnie."

Hop started sweating nervously. "S-So they slept in the same room for the night?"

The man nodded again, "Yes, and they haven't come down yet, so I'm sure they're still there. Heh, kids these days."

_"Craaaaaaaaaap!"_ Hop became panicked.

He suddenly reached forward and grabbed the receptionist by the collar, pulling him close.

"Huh!? What are you doing-!?"

" _Listen_ to me!" Hop demanded, having the most serious expression he could ever keep. "Whatever you do, you cannot, and I mean _CAN-NOT_ say _ANYTHING_ about this to Gloria!"

The man looked both scared and confused.

"Do you understand?"

"U-Um... But why-?"

"Do. You. Under- _stand_?"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

Hop then let go of him and let out a sigh of relief, resting his head on the receptionist's desk.

Thwackey stared at Hop with a look of surprise, not used to ever seeing his trainer look so worried.

_"Victor, I'll try to keep her from going ballistic... Knowing you, you were probably only taking care of Marnie and slept in the same room since it was the only one available... But Gloria might end up really losing it anyway..."_

"Morning Hop."

"GYAH!" Hop jumped and turned to find Gloria right behind him with a confused look. Beside her was Bubbles, now a Drizzile after having evolved some time back, and had a somewhat similar appearance and expression of an emo child. And from the girl's bag was Luna, letting out a tired yawn from waking up so early with her trainer.

"Drizzile?" Bubbles narrowed her eyes at Hop's reaction.

"What's up with ya?" Gloria tilted her head.

Hop panted to catch his breath. "H-Hey, Gloria! Why are you up so early?" He was genuinely surprised to see her up so soon.

Gloria let out a small yawn. "I woke up pretty early to make sure we didn't just pass by Victor... Did you ask if he came by?" She turned her attention to the receptionist as if expecting an answer.

"Why, yes. Victor and-" The man stopped himself when he was reminded of his promise to Hop, "-his _pokemon_ should be in another room."

Gloria didn't notice the pause in his voice as she was held up in excitement to know that Victor was here. "Really!?"

"B-But I'm sure he's sleeping right now, Gloria, so we should head out and fight Kabu first!" Hop suggested, hoping that she'd agree or else there would be the chance she'd see Victor and Marnie come down together.

Luckily, Hop's words did remind the girl of what time it was, having her looking at the clock to see **7:41AM**.

"Yeah... I guess you're right..." She looked disappointed, but did agree that she didn't want to go find Victor's room and disturb his sleep, nor did she want to sit around and wait for what she assumed would be over an hour before he'd come down. Hop was relieved, believing that he'd have time.

But then the doors opened.

The inn's entrance opened up, and none other than Piers came in with a rather menacing glare. The four Team Yell grunts behind him were the ones that had told the Dark-type Gym Leader about where their Marnie had slept for the night.

Hop and Gloria turned their heads and were shocked to see Piers somewhere like this, especially while looking furious. So furious that Conga and Bubbles both kept close to their trainers while Luna nervously peeked from her bag.

"P-Piers!?" Hop exclaimed in shock.

"Hm?" Piers stopped by the receptionist's desk and turned to Hop, his furious gaze instantly changing into his usual moody one. "Oh, you're Leon's little bro, Hop, right?"

He then turned to Gloria. "Hm... And you must be the lass, Gloria, endorse by Leon too? Nice to meet you... I guess?"

Hop and Gloria both had expressions of equal confusion.

"Wait, what are you doing _here_ , Piers!? Lee tells me that you almost _never_ leave Spikemuth!" Hop asked him.

The receptionist at the desk became rather nervous now as Piers seemed to ignore Hop's question and glared threateningly at the man.

"G-Gym Leader P-Piers! A-As I've told you last night, or er... I guess _early_ this morning, I cannot simply let you go up to a guest's room! E-Even as a Gym Leader!"

Piers crossed his arms and turned his back on the man, resting himself against the receptionist's desk.

"I know that, so we're waitin' _right_ here for them to come down."

"Yell Yeah!" Team Yell shouted.

"B-But sir, you may disturb the other guests-"

"Zip it." Piers glared back at him. "If anythin's happened to Marnie, then I'll make sure the loudest one yellin' is **_you_ ** _."_

"EEP!" The receptionist hid under his desk.

_"Marnie?"_ Hop wondered in shock, wondering what Piers had with her.

Gloria frowned as she walked up to the Gym Leader. "Oi! What makes ya think ya could just hang around here and act like ya own the place!?"

Piers turned to her, his eyes returning their emotionless droopiness instantly.

"Hm? What do you mean? I'm just waiting for my little sis to come down."

"EH!?! Marnie's your sister!?" Hop shouted in shock.

"Well, ye, it ain't exactly a secret. I take it you lot haven't watched any of her battles? Those commentators always bring it up." Piers shrugged.

Gloria looked just as surprised as Hop, "Wait, but ya waiting for Marnie to come down? Why?"

Hop instantly turned black and white. _"Wait a second-!"_

Pier's eyes flashed menacingly red as he turned back to the desk and slammed his fist onto it.

"Because some god damn _idiot_ let my _precious_ lil sis go up to a room with a _guy,_ all _A-LONE!"_

The receptionist was just coming out from under his desk when Piers had slammed his fist.

"EEP! He immediately ducked under again.

Then Piers turned back to the Gym Challengers as if nothing had happened. "So yeah, that's why I'm here."

Hop was sweating nervously by what he heard.

_"This is SO not good."_

"Eh? Ya mad because Marnie spent the night with a boy? Oh come on, ain't that being too overprotective? We're in a public inn, and I'm sure her pokemon would just blast anyone actin' funny." Gloria said with a roll of her eyes.

Hop attempted to go off what Gloria was saying. "Y-Yeah. M-Marnie can take care of herself since she's strong like us! So why don't we all take a moment to head outside-"

"Not a chance." Piers cut him off. "I'm waitin' until Marnie and that dead punk come out." 

"Oh come on! Who did she even stay with!?" Gloria snapped in irritation.

That made Hop's blood grow cold.

"I-I'm sure it's no one dangerous, alright!? Look, we need to forget this and-!"

"It's that Victor fella!!" Team Yell all shouted.

And that's when time just seemed to freeze.

_"Ah...Shit."_

Hop slowly turned his head behind him, seeing what he feared to happen.

All of Gloria's color seemed to fade, her eyes empty to form a completely blank gaze.

Bubbles and Conga both nervously took a step away from the girl, giving her some space, while Luna ducked into her backpack in fear.

"What... What was that?" That was all that was spoken by the girl.

"You heard em'. He's the last of your trio." Piers frowned, once again resting on the desk and crossing his arms to wait.

Gloria said nothing as she walked next to him and rested herself on the desk as well, her dead expression not changing at all.

"Hm? You gonna wait too?" Piers raised an eyebrow.

Gloria just gave a weak nod.

Now it was one thing when Gloria was pissed, but it's something _completely_ different when she was like... 'this.' Those emotionless eyes lacking color, the unwavering expression that showed no signs to change, and just the cold but menacing aura surrounding her. 

Hop had seen this before, and at this point, _anything_ could happen.

"K-Kirl?" Luna was shivering as she once again saw a side of her trainer she hadn't seen before, peeking nervously from her bag.

Hop tried his best to calm her down.

"H-Hold on now! Gloria, you and I know that Victor wouldn't do _anything_ bad! Before any of you guys overreact, let's take the time to just talk about things! It's way too early anyway, so it might be over an hour before Victor or Marnie wake up-"

*Ding!*

Hop immediately facepalmed. The timing of the elevator sound was _way_ too convenient. So, of course, he only thought one thing;

_"I think we all know where this is going."_

Sure enough, Hop slowly turned his head back and saw both Victor and Marnie step out of the elevator, looking completely awake.

Victor stretched his arms up while smiling happily with Midori was beside him, mimicking his trainer's actions. Marnie was beside him, hugging her Morpeko, red from embarrassment as she recalled the previous day.

They both stepped into the lobby. 

"Man, that was a good night's sleep. But I didn't think you'd wake up as early as I did after how late we slept." Victor smiled.

"Y-Yeah... I actually don't really sleep too much..." Marnie told him. "Spikemuth's always dark, so I got a bit of a weird sleep schedule-"

"MARNIE!!"

"EH!?" The girl was caught off guard as in a split second, Piers had appeared and embraced her in a tight hug, lifting her off the ground.

"Mor!?" Morpeko nearly electrified everything around her but managed to recognize the Gym Leader before she did.

"Marnie!" Team Yell shouted to see her okay.

Victor and Midori stepped back in astonishment to suddenly see Spikemuth's Gym Leader here.

"Howareyoufeeling!?!Areyoualright!?!You'renothurtatallareyou!?!"

"Mmph!" Marnie's face was pressed against her brother, struggling as she pulled back and breathed while looking up at her brother with stunned eyes.

She managed to push him off and step back, her Morpeko falling to the ground and scurrying beside her trainer. "P-Piers!? Wh-What are ya doing here!?!"

Piers got on one knee to be on his sister's eye level.

"Team Yell told me you spent the night with a _guy_!"

Victor, in the meantime, had sparkling eyes as he stared at Galar's Dark-type Gym Leader.

_"Oh my god! It's Piers! I didn't think I'd see him here of all places! He looks so much cooler in person!"_

Marnie looked past Piers and towards Team Yell, forming an angry pout from hearing what they told her brother. 

"Wh-What did I tell you lot about telling Piers things!?!"

"B-But Victor carried ya here while ya were unconscious!" Team Yell said.

A record scratch snapped Piers' head from his little sister to the boy standing just a few feet away. His eyes menacingly starting to glow red.

"So _you're_ the lad?"

"Eh?" Victor swore he heard danger from him.

"Victor." A different voice called to him.

"GYAH!" Our hero turned around, not expecting Gloria to suddenly be _right_ behind him. Especially with her eyes... not looking quite right. 

"G-Gloria!? H-Hey! It's good to see you again!" Victor smiled nervously, backing away from her.

Gloria just skipped the greetings. "Why did ya carry Marnie to ya room?" Her voice sounded empty of any emotion, _definitely_ something Victor rarely heard from her.

Victor and Midori nervously stepped back from Piers and Gloria as both stepped closer to him. Luna peaked from Gloria's backpack and nervously stared at Midori. But her eyes widened when she saw the male Ralts now into a Kirlia like her. Midori nervously stared back at her before somehow mustering a small smile and giving an awkward wave.

"H-Hold on a second, what's wrong with you two?" Victor asked, raising his hands up in surrender. "Piers, since when do _you_ get angry?! And Gloria, why do you look like that!?"

Piers didn't answer him, instead, reaching behind him and somehow pulling out his mic stand while his face became menacingly shadowed. He gripped it tightly and threateningly patted his palm with it, _clearly_ implying something.

"Let's see what kind of person you are, kid."

_"Eh?"_ Victor and Midori deadpanned.

"Victor..." Gloria bent her knees, raised her arms forward, and stuck her fingers out in a pouncing position. "It don't smell like anythin' happened, but I gotta check somethin' real quick _just_ to make sure."

_"WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN!?!"_ Victor felt more scared of Gloria than the threat of Piers bashing his head in.

Both Marnie and Hop's eyes widened.

"P-Piers, no!"

"Hold on a second, Gloria!"

Both of them wrapped their arms around the two approaching Victor, with Marnie trying to push Piers from the front while Hop tried to hold Gloria back.

"Marnie, I'm just goin' to say hi." Piers chuckled evilly as he tried moving forward.

"L-Like hell ya are!" Marnie stammered as she pushed him back.

"Victor! Run for it!" Hop shouted, struggling to pull Gloria back as she started reaching out for Victor.

"Hop!? You're here too?" Victor said, only now noticing him.

"We'll say hi later!! For now, get out of here!!" Hop shouted, managing to pull Gloria back a few inches before he felt the girl take a step forward and start to drag him.

Victor saw the situation in front of him, and he knew what to do.

"It seems we've only got one choice Midori... If we wanna defuse this situation, then we must use the _secret_ technique..."

Midori looked up at him in shock. "K-Kirl!?!"

"The technique mom taught me ever since I was little... I mentioned it before, so you know what it is, don't you?" 

Midori nervously nodded.

"Good, then..."

...

...

Both ran to the door.

"NIGERUNDAYOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

"Wha- Marnie! Let go of me! He's gettin' away!" Pier shouted as he looked down at her.

Marnie just held onto him while pushing him as if her life depended on it.

"N-No! I won't let you hurt him!" She cried.

"AH!! Okay! I get it! I GET IT! Just please stop crying!" Piers panicked, feeling his strength fade to see his little sister with water in her eyes.

"Gloria-OW! Calm down-OW! Please-OW!" Hop was repeatedly getting bashed by Gloria as he struggled to hold on, the girl's expression _still_ not changing as she started dragging Hop across the floor in an attempt to follow Victor.

Team Yell and the pokemon stared at them with blank expressions.

_"Feelin' pretty bad now... We kinda caused this..."_ The not-so-evil organization sweatdropped.

Victor and Midori ran out the door and followed the Motostoke road.

"I guess we're taking on Kabu's gym even earlier than expected!" He said as he saw the stadium in the distance.

"Kirl, Kirlia!?" Midori panted as he ran beside his trainer.

"Huh!? Of course it was better to leave them! Did you _see_ their faces!? I'm not dumb enough to stay behind! I just hope Hop and Marnie can calm them down and... clear up whatever misunderstanding they've got of me! For now, I need to keep myself busy with Kabu so they won't come after me!"

"Kirlia? Kirlia?" 

Victor grinned.

"Yup, we're getting our next badge!"

Victor then caught sight of someone in front of the Motostoke Stadium, making him glance back to see if Gloria or Piers were after him.

Seeing that they weren't, he decided to make a quick stop to the one in front of the stadium.

"Hey, Ball Guy!!!"

The mysterious mascot was dancing when he heard the boy, stopping what he was doing and turning his head to see him coming.

"Oh! Well if it isn't my favorite challenger?" He laughed as Victor approached.

The challenger skid to a halt in front of him while grinning.

"It's good to see you again!"

Ball Guy started tap dancing, "It's good to see you as well, Victor! Are you going to face Kabu?"

"Sure am!" Victor chuckled.

But then he turned comedically black and white as he was reminded of his current danger.

"I actually have to go face him, like right _now_! It was nice seeing you again! Oh! And..."

Victor reached into his backpack and pulled out a container that had flat Pokeball-designed cookies in it.

"Here you go! You can return the container the next time we meet!" He tossed it to him.

"Huh?" Ball Guy stumbled a bit as he caught the container, his baffled expression hidden behind his costume mask. "Wait, but don't you want another-?" Ball Guy didn't finish as Victor already blasted inside the Motostoke Gym, leaving behind himself and Midori's dust clouds.

Ball Guy paused as he processed how fast their meeting ended compared to the previous encounters.

"Aw, pooey. I was gonna give him another special Pokeball too." 

He looked down at the container of sweets given to him, examining the several Pokeball treats.

"Heh, he was the one to give me a gift this time... What a funny lad."

* * *

**~{A Few Minutes Later-Motostoke Gym}~**

Victor and his pokemon were within the hall leading to the main room for Motostoke's Gym Challenge. The boy had on his white uniform once again, the proud number **658** on the back of it. However, before he went through the end of the hall to officially start his challenge, he decided to have his pokemon all out for the moment to come up with a strategy.

"Alright, so unlike Milo and Nessa's gym teams, the three pokemon Kabu uses for his gym battles are fully evolved. They're _really_ tough by themselves, but with Kabu's experience in battle, it's no wonder he's a roadblock for so many challengers."

His three pokemon stared up at Victor as they listened, while Tesla just slept on the floor next to them.

"Not only that, but physical attackers are such a _pain_ to use against him!" Victor sighed. "His Ninetales and Arcanine both have Will-O-Wisp... Luckily, only two of you guys are actually affected by it a lot. "

Ace and Midori turned to Twilight. Since Ace was a fire-type, he couldn't get burned, and Midori was a Special Attacker, _for now_ , so a burn wouldn't hinder his special attacks. And as for Tesla... would a burn even do too much to him?

Twilight frowned, turning his head away.

"Okay, so _here's_ what we're going to do!" Victor said with a finger up. "For whatever challenge we have to get through before we face Kabu, Twilight, you'll be with me!"

The bird nodded.

"Then, when we face Kabu, Ace and Midori will help me take out Kabu's pokemon! With Tesla being our last resort since it'll be risky to use him in this battle because... You know? Fire roasts bug."

His pokemon nodded in understanding.

"Good! Then let's start!" Victor grinned, returning three pokemon to leave only Twilight out.

Twilight then flapped his wings and flew beside Victor as they ran the rest of the way to the large double doors with the fire type badge symbol on it.

The moment Victor ran through the doors, he stopped with his eyes widened.

This gym looked... different from the other two.

He was in a large red and orange dome that had... patches of grass with trainers near them?

Victor walked to the center of the room, where once again, a blonde referee was waiting for him there.

"Welcome Gym Challenger-!"

"Hold up, before you say anything, I have to ask you something _very_ important." Victor cut him off, looking more serious than ever.

The referee raised an eyebrow. "Er... What is it?"

"Why have I seen you in every gym so far?"

The referee paused for a moment with a blank face before bursting out in laugher.

"Hahahaha!That's because I have several brothers who are each a referee of a gym!" He then pulled a photo out of his pocket that revealed _several_ other identical blonde boys all together. "You may not believe it even if you see it!"

_"Okay, there is NO way that should be possible!"_ Victor deadpanned.

Even Twilight looked bewildered as he flapped in place and stared at the photo with a tilt of his head.

The referee slipped the photo back in his breast pocket, looking more formal now. "Now, if I may continue, allow me to tell you the Gym Mission for the Motostoke Gym!"

He waved a hand to present the scoreboard behind him reading **Challenger** and **Staff**.

"Catching pokemon to earn the most points!"

_"Eh?"_ Victor blinked in confusion.

The referee then presented the grassy areas around him.

"Earn five points to clear the Gym Mission! And in case you're wondering, you'll earn one point for defeating a pokemon in the tall grass or two points for catching that pokemon!"

_"But randomly catching pokemon without talking to them is what I don't like!"_ Victor thought to himself.

"And you won't be alone in this competition. Other staff trainers will be joining you in your battles!"

The staff nodded around him.

_"So they're here to get in my way?"_ Victor pouted.

"Think about what your opponents might do, and try to take the best action to rack up points! You _must_ obtain five points ahead of any of these other trainers to move on, and you _must_ only use normal pokeballs! If you don't have any, then some will be provided for you! And you can choose if you wish to keep any of the pokemon you catch!"

Victor stretched his arms while Twilight looked around the grass for any shaking. The Fire gym's staff members all held their own Pokeballs and with ready grins.

The referee raised a hand.

"Let the Gym Mission begin!"

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-Budew Inn}~**

"Oh, okay then."

That was all Piers said after listening to the entire story Marnie provided to him of the previous night. From the girl meeting Victor and having a battle, to how they were forced to share a room where _CLEARLY_ nothing happened.

Piers' expression was back to its moody and uncaring look after hearing all of it.

"I know you wouldn't lie to me, so from what you said, he sounds like a pretty swell guy."

"He's a man of culture, Piers! He gets it!" Team Yell shouted.

"Y-Yeah, s-so don't ever hurt him!" Marnie timidly scolded her brother.

The group was still within the Budew Inn's lobby, taking the time to listen to Marnie explain the situation and clear up the group's worries.

"S-See...? T-Told you... we should've *urk* just calmed down and talked about this..." Hop was face first on the floor with comedic red bumps on his head, all caused by Gloria's silent but deadly rampage.

Speaking of the girl, she was now on her hands and knees with her head hanging, panting hard with a big feeling of relief overwhelming her.

"Thank god... Thank god... Nothin' happened... He's still pure..."

_"Okay, Gloria, you're REALLY starting to worry me."_ Hop thought as he turned his head to the girl with a shiver. Luna was out of her trainer's back and standing beside her, patting her back with a sigh.

"I'm perfectly fine, Piers!" Marnie timidly stammered. "So, get back to Spikemuth!"

"Sorry, no can do." Piers blatantly said. "I still gotta talk to Victor."

"E-Eh!? Why!?!" 

"Hm? Don't ya remember? I said that whenever your friends with a boy, they have to talk to me to see if we can trust him." Piers told her.

"P-Piers!? I don't need ya checking in on who can be my friends and who can't!" Marnie shook her arms up and down with a pout.

"H-Hey Piers... Am I alright?" Hop asked as he shakily pushed himself up to his feet.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, you're good. You're Leon's little bro, he's talked about you _way_ too much."

"Good to hear..." Hop stood up straight and cracked his back in place. "Ouch..."

"Piers! Victor is takin' the Gym challenge! He's next ta battle Kabu!" One of the Team Yell grunts shouted after checking his phone.

"Oh, alright then." Piers started walking to the exit.

"Ah!? Where are ya going!?" Marnie stammered as she ran after him.

"Might as well watch how he battles before I talk to him. If any of ya wanna watch, you can come with me." He said without much care in his voice.

"Oo! I'm up for it!" Hop exclaimed excitedly as he started following Piers.

"Yell, yeah! Let's see the guy Marnie's gonna beat in the future!" Team Yell followed.

"G-Go home already, you lot!" Marnie cried as she ran after them.

"Huh?" Gloria raised her head as she saw everyone starting to leave. "W-Wait for me!"

"Kirl! Kirl!" (You forgot about me!)

* * *

**~{Back to the Motostoke Gym Challenge}~**

"And that's it!" The referee shouted as Twilight used Pluck to ram his beak into a Vulpix, knocking it out. "The challenger has gotten five points first!"

The other staff in the room stopped what they were doing, and the 'wild' pokemon all stopped as well, turning to Victor as the boy held two pokeballs in each of his hands.

"Phew, that was a lot harder than I thought it'd be... Especially with _everyone_ gunning for whatever pokemon I was going for!" Victor pouted.

The gym staff chuckled while shrugging, "Why do you think Kabu is one of the harder gyms? He and his challenge are both a pretty big deal."

Twilight flew to the ground and actually plopped onto the floor, completely exhausted.

"Cor... Cor..." He panted. For the past few minutes, he avoided attacks from the trainers' pokemon, avoided getting hit by the 'wild' pokemon, and all while trying to fight.

"Congratulations on another gym mission cleared!" The referee applauded. "Clearing Kabu's Gym mission like that with only one pokemon... You're positively on fire!"

"Thank you! You guys sure didn't make it easy for me, though." Victor chuckled, wiping some sweat from his head.

"Of course not! That is the point of this challenge!" The referee laughed. "But now you'll be facing Kabu, the leader of the fire gym! On you go, challenger!"

"Give me a second!" Victor crouched down, holding two pokeballs. "Off you go, little fellas!"

He clicked his pokeballs, and out came a Sizzlipede and a Litwick that he had caught in order to get two points rather than the one he would've gotten by just defeating them.

"Sizz?"

"Lit?"

They both looked up at him curiously.

"Hm? You're not going to keep them?" The referee asked.

"No, it's alright. I didn't even plan to catch any pokemon." Victor said as Twilight stood up from the floor after catching his breath. "Now then, it's time to get to the main event!" He grinned.

Twilight flapped his wings and floated in the air now, ready to move on.

"Good luck, Gym Challenger Victor!" Everyone in the room waved.

"It's _JUST_ Victor!" Our hero shouted as he ran off.

He made his way up the stairs to the exit doors as confetti and fog blasted once again to celebrate him finishing the challenge. 

"Thanks for your help, Twilight!" He said as he pulled out his Pokeball.

"Cor! Cor!" Twilight shouted proudly before getting returned into his Pokeball.

"Now, let's start with you, Ace!" Victor said as he grabbed another Pokeball and clicking it open to release his starter.

Ace appeared right beside him and ran with Victor with his paws stuffed into his pouch with a serious look.

"Raboot, Boot."

"Oh come on, you're actually excited, aren't you?" Victor laughed.

Ace rolled his eyes.

"This'll be great!" Victor jumped excitedly.

The two made their way to the top of the stairs, where double doors with the Fire-badge symbol automatically opened. The two ran inside and started going down the hall for the stadium.

Before then coming to a screeching halt as they saw who was waiting for them.

"Kabu!?" Victor couldn't help but be surprised to see the Fire-type Gym Leader jogging in place with his towel around his neck.

The flaming trainer smiled.

"Ah, Victor. I was beginning to wonder if my challenge had overwhelmed you!"

"Huh? Wha- Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be coming out from the other side of the stadium!?" Victor asked him.

Kabu just chuckled. "It's not like it's mandatory to come from our respective sides. When I heard you'd be my next opponent, I came here right away. I wish to jog with you again, get ourselves pumping for our soon to be flaming battle, hear me?"

Victor paused for a moment as he heard the Gym Leader's reason for being there, then letting out a small laugh.

"You're pretty cool, Kabu! Sure, I'll jog with you!"

Kabu turned his body as Victor got beside him, both then starting to go down the long hall with a light jog, Ace following the two from behind.

"Ah, to be called 'cool' by one of the new generations of trainers, it warms my heart." The old man smiled.

"Oh come on, just because you're old doesn't mean you wouldn't be cool. You still haven't lost your flames for pokemon battles one bit, hence why you're still called the ever-burning man of fire." Victor reassured him.

"I suppose so. I'll be sure to show you the force of my flames firsthand with this battle!" Kabu smirked.

"Just to warn you, I haven't lost yet." Victor returned the look.

"Well, then I hope I can change that."

The two made their way to the light ahead while a certain group found their seats.

"Over here. These seats are always empty unless reserved." Piers said as he led the group to an area of front row seats in the stadium, getting a pretty close view of the completely red field.

"Oh, boy, I'm so excited! I wonder if Victor's got any new pokemon on his team!?" Hop excitedly bounced.

"U-Um... I-I know he has-"

"No! Don't say anything! I wanna see for myself!" Hop shushed Marnie as he grabbed the railing and leaned forward with sparkling eyes.

Conga hopped onto the railing and glanced at the field as well, ready to see his trainer's rival fight.

Gloria sat down in a seat while Luna actually jumped out and landed on the railing, peering closely with excitement for the chance to see her male counterpart.

The scottish girl let out a sigh as Spikemuth's goddess sat next to her, still feeling relieved to hear nothing happened between her and Victor.

"Y-You alright?" Marnie asked her. Truth be told, she was a little scared of the girl after witnessing how scary she could be several times.

"Yeah... Sorry... I may have overreacted a wee bit." The girl awkwardly chuckled.

_"That was only a 'bit'?"_ Marnie nervously shivered.

Morpeko reached into her pouch and pulled out a berry as she sat on Marnie's lap, then cheerfully nibbling on his meal.

"H-Hey... Gloria?" Marnie stammered.

"Hm? Yeah?" The girl turned to her.

"A-Are... Are we friends?"

Piers' ear seemed to stretch a bit as he listened in.

Gloria paused as she stared at the girl and saw her worried eyes, then sighing while rubbing the back of her own head.

"Kinda awkward when someone asks that... But yeah, I don't see why we wouldn't be."

Marnie let out a relieved sigh while Piers nodded in approval.

"Just don't get too close ta Victor." The scottish girl added with a blank gaze.

"Eh?" Marnie blinked.

_"Agreed."_ Piers thought, not wanting Marnie to get too close to a boy.

Before Marnie could ask what Gloria meant by what she said, the stadium's commentator started shouting.

**"It's time for yet again another battle, folks! And this'll be one you don't want to miss!"**

Piers put a leg on top of the other as he hunched forward and gazed down at the field. "Let's see what the kid's got."

**"We've got one of the three challengers endorsed by Leon himself here with us today! Will he be able to overpower through our ever-burning Kabu's flames? Or will our challenger end up getting burnt to a crisp!?"**

"He doesn't mean that literally, right?" Hop glanced back to Piers.

The Dark-type Gym Leader shrugged, "How should I know? I don't watch Kabu's battles..."

**"Give it up for the man of Postwick, Victor-! Eh!? Kabu's with him!?"**

The group glanced ahead and saw Victor come out of the contestant entrance jogging with Kabu, the two facing each other while pleasantly talking. Ace was beside his trainer jogging as well, looking up at everyone in the stadium.

"Since when'd they become fast friends?" Piers scoffed with an unamused face.

"Victor's just good at making them." Hop grinned, staring down at his rival.

"Yeah... Fast friends..." Gloria suddenly had a blank stare as she recalled Victor and Nessa at the end of their battle, where the Gym Leader had casually pulled him close to her.

Hop cupped his hands over his mouth and took a deep breath.

"VICTOOOOOOOOR!! UP HEEEEEEEEEERE!!!!"

"So noisy..." Piers sighed, using a finger to twist in his ear.

Kabu and Victor were just making it to the middle of the arena when Ace's sensitive ears heard Hop scream over everyone else's mild cheers. He turned his head and saw him in the bleachers, then turning to Victor and nudging him to get his attention.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Raboot, boot."

Victor turned to where he was pointing and saw all of his friends, then happily smiling as he waved over to them.

Seeing him notice him, Hop shouted something else. "GLORIA SAID TO WIN THIS FOR HEEEEEEEER!!!"

Gloria's eyes flashed red as she shot up to her feet while facing Hop.

"FUS RO DAH!"

Her shout sent Hop comically flying to the side, ending in him crashing all the way to the wall.

"URK!"

Victor flinched when he saw his friend crash, then nervously glancing up at Gloria, who was panting angrily with a small blush.

The girl turned and glanced down at Victor, both of them making eye contact.

Victor used the chance to wave to her with a smile, wondering if she had gone back to normal.

Seeing him wave to her, Gloria pouted and turned her head away while crossing her arms, still thinking about him and Nessa.

Victor sweatdropped.

_"Oh, boy..."_

"Ah, so you've got some friends watching you?" Kabu chuckled as he stared up at the group.

"Yeah, they're pretty great." Victor smiled again, then waving to Marnie, who shyly waved back.

The two of them stopped in the center of the arena now, where Kabu then put his hands behind his back and stood up straight, facing Victor with a serious expression.

Victor turned to him and saw the look he had, understanding that it was time.

"Now, onto the event! Welcome, Gym Challenger! I am Kabu, the Fire-type Gym Leader!"

_"Oh god, he's going with his usual speech."_ Victor sighed.

"The fact that you are here means you've bested both Milo's Grass-types and Nessa's Water-type pokemon too!"

_"He does this for EVERY challenger he has."_ Victor nodded.

"Every Trainer and Pokemon trains and battles hard the in pursuit of victory! But that means your opponent is also working hard to win! In the end, the match is decided by which side can unleash their true potential!"

_"But then again, I guess this is information every new challenger should be reminded of."_

"And now, it's time to see which of us can win using said potential! Are you ready, challenger!" Kabu finished, his serious gaze turning into an excited smile.

"Of course." Victor answered as Ace stretched his arms a bit.

"Then let us proceed!" Kabu instructed.

The two did the usual and turned their backs to each other, then counting a precise number of steps away from each other before turning back around. Ace walked with Victor to his spot before getting into a fighter ready position.

**"Let the Motostoke Gym Battle... BEGIN!!"**

Kabu energetically got in a pitching stance before flinging his Ultra Ball forward. "Start the heat, Ninetales!"

"You're up first, Ace!" Victor pointed.

Raboot ran forward as Kabu's Ultra Ball opened to release a _nine-tailed_ yellow fox pokemon with red eyes.

The female Ninetales growled as she bent her knees in a pouncing position.

"Quick Attack!" Both Kabu and Victor shouted while pointing their hands.

Both the rabbit and fox pokemon started glowing white before vanishing, then appearing and clashing in the arena's center with their bodies. Ace glared into Ninetales's red eyes while the fox glared back, both of them then vanishing again and clashing again with their bodies a few feet away.

This repeated for a few more collisions before both appeared several feet away, eyeing each other down.

"Fire Spin!" Kabu commanded.

Ninetales opened her mouth, and a swirling vortex of fire formed, then blasting it in a ray of swirling flames.

"Avoid it and use Agility to boost up your speed!"

Ace listened as he dove out of the way, his body then looking as if it vibrated before then blasting overall faster at Ninetales.

"Ember!"

Ninetales breathed in before firing a ball of fire at Ace, but the rabbit's speeds allowing him to avoid it easily.

"Double Kick her on the head!" Victor instructed.

Ace leaped forward and spun his legs, ready to strike.

"Snatch him from the air!" Kabu shouted.

Ninetale's gaze went up as she growled, then unexpectantly leaping right at Ace and clamping her mouth on his leg.

"Ra-!" Ace shouted in pain.

"Ace! Kick her off!"

"Slam him down!" Kabu countered.

Luckily, Ace was able to open an eye and used his foot to kick Ninetales right in _her_ eye, causing the fire-type to howl as her mouth opened to free him.

Ace flipped before landing on his feet, only to wince and fall to one knee after feeling the pain in his leg.

"Are you alright, Ace!?" Victor shouted.

Ace forcefully got up and nodded despite shaking. "Ra... boot..."

"Hm, that ain't good." Piers pointed out as he rested his head in his hand with a bored look. "That leg's gonna mess him up for the rest of this match."

"Meh, Victor will find a way through that." Hop grinned confidently.

"Oh god, you're as stupidly optimistic as Leon..." Piers sighed.

Victor frowned at his situation.

_"Kabu's Ninetales has Flash Fire. I know that since the Gym Leader's sets never change for their gyms... So the only moves that Ace can do to damage it are Double Kick and Quick attack. But... Now that Ace's leg is hurt, he's gonna have a hard time doing either attack..."_

Victor sighed, focusing back.

_"We're gonna have to battle reactively..."_

"Ninetales, Fire Spin again!"

"Tales!" Ninetales once again sent a spiral of flames.

"Jump to the side, Ace!"

Ace used his unharmed leg to jump away from the flames, then landing but wincing again.

"Ember!"

Ninetales fired another ball of fire, which Ace rolled to the side while trying to avoid putting pressure on his busted leg.

_"But Kabu's Ninetales has two ranged attacks, so she could just keep using those from afar rather than rush us! Kabu's really pulling all he's got, there's no way Ace can get in!"_

Knowing what he had to do, Victor pulled out his Pokeball, "Ace, take a rest!"

Ace nodded as he glowed red and was absorbed back into his Pokeball.

Kabu grinned, "A smart strategical retreat, Victor!"

"Oh, he'll be back, trust me!" Victor returned the grin as he tossed his next Pokeball. "Come on out, Midori!"

His Pokeball clicked open, and out came the psychic and fairy pokemon, landing on the ground and smiling confidently.

**"Here's Victor's second pokemon! His Kirlia that had evolved right in the middle of his battle with Nessa!"** The commentator shouted excitedly.

_"Oh yeah, that's right, that happened with him too."_ Gloria couldn't help but chuckle.

Luna excitedly sparkled as she stared at Midori from afar.

"Changing pokemon won't help you! Ninetales, Fire Spin once more!" Kabu pointed.

"Teleport in the one place you can hide!" Victor instructed with a grin.

_"One place you can hide?"_ Marnie wondered as she heard Victor's voice echo in the speakers of the stadium.

"Kirl!" Midori smiled before he vanished from the spot, Ninetale's fire attack missing completely.

Then there were a few seconds without any action, with Ninetales looking around to figure out where her opponent went. Kabu and the rest of the audience all tried searching around for the Emotion pokemon, unable to find him.

"Where is he!? Where'd he go!?" Hop's head frantically searched more than anyone else.

"He said to hide the 'one place' he could, right?" Where's that?" Gloria asked with visible confusion.

Piers, on the other hand, sighed, "It should be obvious. But Kabu won't figure it out for another second since this kind of thing never really happens to him."

"Eh?" The group blinked.

Kabu frowned as he searched and searched, but found no sign of Midori while Victor started laughing from afar.

"Victor, I'm sure you know that pokemon are forbidden to interact around the audience?"

"But there are barriers around the field anyway, to make sure nothing from here gets out!" Victor continued laughing.

"So then your Kirlia _must_ be here somewhere! But where-?"

"Come on out and give a point-blank Psybeam!" Victor shouted.

Suddenly, Midori popped his body up from the bundled up collection of tails on Ninetales.

"Kirlia!" (Peekaboo!)

"What!?" Kabu's eyes widened in shock.

"Ninetales!?" The fox pokemon turned her head back with a red exclamation mark appearing over her head.

"HE WAS HIDING IN HER TAILS!?!" Hop's eyes comedically bulged.

"Kirl-IAAAAAAAAAA!!!!" Midori took a deep breath and fired a telekinetic beam right into Ninetale's face, sending her flying.

Midori then twirled in the air before landing gracefully with a big smile.

"To think you'd use my own pokemon to hide yours, you really are quite the amusing trainer!" Kabu laughed.

"Thank you very much!" Victor beamed.

Ninetales got up from the ground, dizzy eyes and stumbling while trying to get on her feet.

"Oh! She's Confused!" Victor exclaimed in happiness. "Use this chance, Midori! Use Disarming Voice!"

"Ninetales! Power through it with Fire Spin again!"

"N-Nine..." Ninetales opened her mouth, and fire swirled in it while Midori took a deep breath.

However, before Ninetales could fire, her dizziness caused her to stumble back, causing her own attack to explode while she was charging it up.

"She hit herself in confusion!" Hop cheered.

"RAAAAA!!!" Midori then blasted heart-shaped projectiles all the way to the still fumbling Ninetales, connecting to her and causing another explosion.

"Ninetales!?" Kabu shouted to his pokemon.

When the smoke cleared up, Ninetales was revealed to be on the ground, unconscious, her tongue even sticking out.

**"Victor of Postwick takes first blood!! How unexpected for the man of fire to lose a pokemon first!"**

"Great job, Midori!" Victor cheered.

"Kirl!" Midori jumped with a cheer.

"Kirl! Kirl!" Luna cheered from the stand with a hand raised.

_"Awwww, look at her getting excited for him."_ Gloria smiled.

Kabu returned Ninetales into her Ultra Ball with a grin. "Well then, although I made your first pokemon retreat, you managed to knock mine out first."

"And there's more where that came from!" Victor shouted.

"From me as well!" Kabu shouted as he pulled out his second Ultra Ball and tossed it.

Out came an Arcanine, a large quadruped, canine Pokémon with an orange pelt marked by jagged black stripes.

Arcanine stood proudly, "AAAARRRRRRRR!!!" He howled, his voice booming like a strong wind.

Midori shivered and backed up, shaking in place as some he felt some of his attack drop.

_"He has Intimidate, huh?"_ Victor knew immediately. "Don't worry, Midori! Your Special Attacks will get through!"

Midori glanced back at Victor while taking calm breaths, then smiling. "Kirl, Kirl!"

"That's the spirit! Don't let your flames be put out by fear!" Kabu cheered, enjoying to see the resolve of Victor's pokemon. "But now it's time to go down! Arcanine, Flame Wheel!"

"Ar!" Arcanine started running forward at Midori, his body then being covered into a burning wheel of flames.

"Double Team!" Victor called.

"Kirl!" Midori jumped and poofed into a cloud of smoke, where several clones of himself appeared and ran all over the place, laughing.

Arcanine went through one of these clones with Flame Charge, poofing it away before screeching to a halt and looking around in confusion.

"Find him and use Agility!" Kabu shouted.

Arcanine sniffed at the air around him and then growled, the corner of his eyes catching sight of one specific Kirlia front flipping in the air.

"Ar!" His body started vibrating as he increased his speed, then suddenly blasting forward at the specific Kirlia.

"Bite him!" Kabu shouted.

"Ar-CANINE!" The 'Legendary' pokemon opened his mouth as he dove right into the air.

"Kirl!?!" Midori's eyes widened.

_"He sniffed him out!?!"_ Victor thought in shock.

Before he could shout any instructions, Arcanine's large jaw clamped right onto Midori, causing the psychic pokemon to shout in pain.

"KIRL!" Luna shouted in horror, seeing her male counterpart tightly bitten down like that.

"Oh god, that looks horrible." Hop cringed.

"Midori! Hypnosis!" Victor shouted.

Midori acted even while in intense pain, "K-Kirl!" He pointed a hand right at Arcanine's eye.

Kabu's eyes widened, "Arcanine, throw him off!"

Midori's hand was already glowing blue before he fired wavy, illusion-like circles right into Arcanine's face.

"AR!" Arcanine swung his head and flung Midori from his mouth, but it was too late, as he was already feeling dizzy and stumbled back in sleepiness.

"Kirl!" Midori's back hit the ground, where he then curled up in pain at where he was bitten, even some blood seeping down.

At the same time, Arcanine's eyes closed, and he fell on his side, put fast asleep.

"Arcanine! Wake up!" Kabu shouted.

"Midori! Heal your bleeding with Life's Dew!" Victor shouted in worry, sweating hard from how heated up the battle was.

Midori weakly raised a hand, and water splashed around him, his bleeding marks then glowing green before healing up, even if only a little bit.

"Kirl..." He managed to get back on his feet, although looking rather disturbed from the experience of being bitten down that had.

"Are you alright!? Can you continue!?" Victor shouted with a look of concern.

Midori nervously glanced at his trainer before nodding.

"Then Teleport to Arcanine and use Draining Kiss to heal yourself some more!" Victor instructed.

"Arcanine! Wake up!" Kabu continued to shout.

Midori glared at Arcanine before teleporting right on top of him, then puckering his lips.

*Chu!* A visible glow came from Midori as his wounds started glowing green again.

Luna pouted as she saw this.

However, feeling the pain from this attack, Arcanine's eyes snapped open with his pupils shrunk in anger.

"Flame Wheel!" Kabu shouted the moment he saw his Arcanine move.

"Jump!" Victor reacted.

Midori backflipped off Arcanine as he burst into flames, then landing on the ground before jumping to the side to avoid the flame-covered pokemon coming right at him.

"Aren't you gonna use Will-O-Wisp?" Victor laughed from afar.

Kabu just grinned, "We both know it'd be pointless to use it against a Special Attacker! Arcanine, get in close and use Bite again!"

Arcanine blasted forward at Midori again, speed still increase quite an amount due to having used Agility.

"Turn around and Psybeam!"

Midori's head was glowing pink just as Arcanine's mouth was inches from him.

"Kirl-!"

He blasted a Psybeam point-blank once more, he and Arcanine exploding together into a ball of smoke.

"What happened!?/Kirl!?" Gloria and Luna both shouted as they leaned forward on the railing.

"His Kirlia was too close. Neither of them are getting up after that..." Piers stated.

Sure enough, then the dusk cleared, Arcanine and Kirlia were both on the ground, swirling eyes and unconscious.

**"A double knock out!? What an exciting turn of events! And to think _one_ of the challenger's pokemon managed to take out two of Kabu's! Outstanding!" **

"Midori! What's with you and taking out the opponent while taking down yourself in the process!?! Victor shouted.

But then he blinked and looked up with a hand on his chin.

_"Wait, Midori... Taking down others but also himself... Why does that sound familiar?"_

Kabu returned his Arcanine with a satisfied smile. "To think one of your pokemon would have the burning passion to take out my first two... I have to say I feel both impressed and embarrassed that a Kirlia did this."

Victor gazed ahead at Kabu and grinned as he returned Midori into his Pokeball.

"Heh, Midori's the trickiest out of my pokemon!"

Luna looked rather sad to see Midori knocked out.

Gloria just chuckled as she watched her pokemon staring so intently at the male. "Oi, he knocked out two of Kabu's pokemon, so be proud of him rather than sad to see him finally get taken down."

Luna glanced back at Gloria before putting on a small smile and nodding.

Kabu had his eyes closed and hands on his knees as he took a deep breath.

"Light that fire and get your mind moving, Kabu! There still must be a path to victory!" He pepped himself up.

"Sorry, but I'm gonna be the victor of this battle! It's literally my name!" Victor shouted as he pointed his thumb at himself with a large grin.

"Oh, think you're funny, are ya?" Kabu laughed, then pulling out his last Ultra Ball. "But it's time for you to get scorched!"

"OO! Did you make a pun too because of your last pokemon!?" Victor questioned.

"It's not funny if you point it out! Now, Centiskorch! Come on out!" Kabu flung his Ultra Ball, and out came a flat, red centipede-like pokemon with the face that Motostoke's Gym Badge was based on.

"Skorch! Skorch!" His pokemon clicked through his mouth.

"Come back out, Ace!" Victor tossed his Pokeball.

Once again, Ace appeared on the red stadium floor, stretching himself but wincing a bit at his previously bitten leg.

**"And here we see the return of Victor's first pokemon! But has he recovered from that devastating bite on his leg!?"** The commentator narrated on the battle.

"Ace, you think you'll be able to run!?" Victor called.

Ace took two steps on his leg and flinched a bit, but turned back to Victor with a nod.

"Alright! I think you know what you have to do!"

Ace turned forward and saw Kabu's Centiskorch, then sighing, as he wasn't looking forward to this.

"He's gonna sacrifice his Raboot..." Piers grumbled.

"Eh!? Sacrifice!?" Hop and Gloria both shouted.

"Yeah... He's gonna make Kabu waste his Dynamax." Piers nodded.

"I-I don't think Victor would just 'sacrifice' a pokemon, Piers." Marnie stammered.

Piers shrugged, "Then he'll just try to stall. Dynamax pokemon can only use three Max attacks before they lose power and shrink back to normal size, so I guess the kid is gonna try to have his little rabbit speed away."

Sure enough, Kabu stood up energetically with his eyes full of vigor.

"Burn bright, Centiskorch! Let Gigantamax change your size and form! Scorch everything in your path!"

Kabu held his Ultra Ball as his Dynamax Band started glowing pink, then focusing power in the sphere in his hand. At the same time, his Centiskorch was returned to the Ultra Ball, which then grew several times its size.

Kabu held the larger ball with both hands as his eyes seemed to momentarily reflect fire, letting out a war cry as he spun and flung the giant glowing Ultra Ball forward.

Out of it, Kabu's Centiskorch grew to tremendous heights while its appearance visibly changed due to the effects of Gigantimax. Centiskorch's body had more segments and legs on it, on the underside of it was yellow with light-yellow circles inside each section of its body, almost as if resembling the top of a stove.

**"Skoooooooooorch!!"** The giant pokemon shouted.

Victor felt sweat soaking into his shirt by how hot the area became. The audience was fine and couldn't feel most of the heat due to the safe invisible shield around the battlefield, but Victor was feeling most of it.

He wiped the sweat from his head while panting a little, his shirt soaking in sweat now.

"Man Kabu, you really know how to turn up the heat!"

Kabu was sweating just as much as Victor, but still looked as energetic as ever.

"But of course! Flames always burn upward, and so we'll always aim to burn brighter and higher! To make everyone feel the heat! And now you'll feel the full extent of it!"

Kabu pointed his palm forward.

"Trap everything with your signature move! Use G-Max Centiferno!"

**"Skoooor!!"**

"Quick Attack to run from the blast!" Victor shouted.

Centiskorch's long body then moved and titled so his underside was pointed down, then intensely flaring up on the yellow circles on it. From these circles, flames burst like a swirling storm of fire down at Ace.

Ace's body started glowing white before he bolted in incredible speeds out of the massive barrage of flames' direct path.

The flames struck and exploded behind Ace, the giant explosion's force propelling him off his feet.

"Raboot!" Ace bounced off the ground and tumbled along it before coming to a stop, then holding his leg in pain after landing on it.

"Don't give him a chance to get up! Use Max Flutterby!" Kabu shouted.

"Ace, get up and Quick Attack away again!" Victor responded.

**"Skooooorch!!!"** Centiskorch once again tilted his long body so his underside aimed at Ace. Then green energy blasted from his body to send a mass of giant green butterflies flying down right at him.

Ace tried to get up, but winced and fell from the increased pain of his leg.

Seeing this, Victor reacted out of worry for his pokemon.

_"Time to put that new TM to good use!"_

"Ace! Use Protect, now!"

Ace held his arms up and a transparent glowing barrier formed around him as he braced for impact.

The several large butterflies connected, causing a giant explosion of green that cracked Ace's barrier. Even with Protect, a barrier wouldn't be able to withstand all the force of a Dynamax or Gigantamax attack, so some force went through and sent Ace flying back again.

"Ra-!"

Ace once again tumbled on the ground before landing on his back, panting hard before starting to force himself up despite shaking so much.

"Ace! We need to-!"

"Once more!" Kabu shouted.

**"Skoooorch!"** Centiskorch fired one last Max Flutterby, the large green butterflies honing right for Ace.

There was nothing Ace could do to move, so Victor could only shout, "Protect!" once more.

Ace weakly raised his arms, and a second barrier started forming.

But the explosions of butterflies easily shattered through it, blasting Ace with the Max attack's full force.

Once again, everything lit up in green from the explosion, the force of the winds having Victor cover his eyes.

"Yeah... He ain't gettin' up from that." Piers leaned back in his seat.

"H-How brutal." Marnie stammered to see Ace take so much.

When the smoke and bright lights from the attack cleared up, Ace was face-first on the ground, completely motionless.

Victor silently returned his rabbit into his Pokeball, then staring down at it with a sad smile.

"You did it, Ace, you got him to use all three of his G-max moves..."

Sure enough, across from him, Kabu's Centiskorch faded its pink Dynamax colors and shrunk back to normal size, with Kabu crossing his arms with a smile behind him.

"Thank's buddy." Victor said as he put his Pokeball away, then pulling out another Pokeball. "It's time, Twilight!"

He tossed his red and white ball up, and out came his flying pokemon, flapping his wings while looking slightly tired.

"Cor? Cor?" He glanced back at Victor.

"You must be tired from the first part of the challenge, but can you fight!?" Victor called to him.

"Cor." Twilight nodded.

"Great! Don't worry if you're feeling tired! After all-!"

Victor grinned as he held his Dynamax Band close to him, the band glowing pink. 

"-you'll be getting a boost!"

"So it's time." Kabu grinned across from him.

Victor took a deep breath.

_"Okay, Victor... You know the pattern. This time, it'll hurt even more... But you can't let it show."_

"Come on, Twilight, it's Dynamax time!" Victor raised his Pokeball, and Twilight was absorbed back into it, the sphere glowing pink and growing several times its size once again.

As he predicted, Victor felt a shock come out of nowhere as if his arm was stabbed. His pupils shrunk as he felt the blood of his right arm burning in pain. The rest of his body tensed up as he could feel the burning spreading from his arm into his shoulder.

_"NNGH!"_ He hunched over for a moment as sweat intensely dripped off him.

_"Oh... God! It stings so much more than before! Come on, don't let it show, just... throw... the ball!"_ Victor thought as his pupils shook in pain while forcing a smile.

Piers's eyes narrowed as he noticed Victor's state. _"Somethin' ain't right."_

He saw Victor seem frozen in place for a moment.

_"His body's tensin' up, and he's gritting his teeth tightly..."_

He glanced at the kids around him, seeing that they haven't noticed the oddity and were just excited to see Victor Dynamax his pokemon.

Victor took deep breaths as he mustered his strength.

"Come... on... out!" He managed to throw his large Pokeball quite high, dragging everyone's attention to the flying ball.

But Piers kept his eye on the boy as he threw the large Pokeball, suddenly catching sight of completely pink eyes and bold pink veins in his arm. Both suddenly glowing for not even a second before disappearing as if nothing happened.

_"What the hell?"_

He went through his thoughts as Victor's Pokeball released a giant Twilight, the Corvisquire growing enormously but flapping place.

**"Cooooooooor!!"** His shout echoed in the arena.

"Centiskorch, Smokescreen!" Kabu shouted quickly.

"Skor!" Centiskorch spewed a giant cloud of smoke around him, hiding his presence.

Victor panted as he wiped more sweat from his forehead, recovering from his sudden pain.

"Alright! *Pant!* Max Airstream him away!"

**"Cor!"** Twilight raised his wings before swinging them down hard, creating a giant horizontal tornado of wind-blasted right through the Smokescreen.

The air blew everything out of the way and exploded the ground. However, Centiskorch's Smokescreen had helped him scurry to the side and avoid being directly hit by this large attack, but still ending up sent flying to the side.

"Skorch!" The Radiator pokemon cried as he plopped onto the ground.

Twilight visibly glowed red for a moment as his flapping got faster.

_"We got that speed boost!"_ Victor grinned, focusing on the battle but holding his still stinging right arm with his left hand.

"Twilight! Fly over and use Max Airstream again to finish this!"

**"Cor!"** Twilight flapped forward right above Centiskorch, eyes narrowing down on him.

"Centiskorch! Smokescreen again!" Kabu shouted.

"Don't let him!" Victor countered.

Twilight was already flapping his wings down hard.

**"COR!!"** He fired another tornado of winds directly down at his opponent.

"Skor-!" Centiskorch was just starting to spew out smoke before taking a Max Airstream directly on him, creating an explosion that sent a powerful draft throughout the arena.

The battlefield cleared up rather quickly to reveal Centiskorch unconscious on the ground.

**"And that's it! That is it, folks! Kabu's ace pokemon is down! The victor is Victor from Postwick!"**

The audience's cheers rang throughout the stadium as Twilight shrunk to normal size, his Dynamax power fading.

He flapped his wings and flew back to his trainer, landing on his arm while both beamed proudly at everyone watching them.

Kabu fell to his hand and knees, hanging his head with a sigh.

"Great pokemon and a great trainer... It's no surprise you won..."

He then immediately sprung back to his feet, looking fired up.

"Clearly, your talent surpasses my many years of experience!"

"Heh, really?" Victor felt flattered.

"Victor!" Hop laughed as he waved down to his friend.

"Of course he'd beat Kabu." Gloria smiled with Luna on her lap.

"He really is strong..." Marnie muttered as she thought back to her own battle against Victor, knowing she and her pokemon had to get stronger.

"Oi, he ain't half bad." Team Yell started nodding together.

Piers, however, just stared intensely at the boy below, eyes narrowed on him.

_"But what the bloody hell happened to him there?"_

Victor walked forward as Twilight planted himself on his trainer's head, meeting up with Kabu in the arena's center.

Kabu returned his Centiskrorch as he approached Victor, smiling proudly as the two got close.

"I know that you and your pokemon will become a fantastic team! I'm glad I battled you today! Now allow me to provide you proof of your victory!"

"You mean the battle footage?" Victor joked.

"Let provide you _another_ proof of your victory!" Kabu continued, pulling out the Fire-badge.

"Oo! Time for the long handshake!" Victor smiled.

Twilight rolled his eyes.

Piers stood up from his seat and started making his way out.

"Eh? Where are ya going?" Gloria asked him.

"The kid's done, so I'ma wait for him." Piers grumbled.

"P-Piers! No!" Marnie stood up while holding her now sleeping Morpeko before going after him.

Piers kept walking as he kept his eyes narrowed, thinking about Victor.

_"Alright, kid... Let's have a chat..."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu standing in a wooden fort with a sniper)
> 
> Well then, I didn't expect Victor to immediately proceed into fighting Kabu. But then again, it was better than him sticking around and risk getting his head bashed into. It was quite a hot battle, don't you agree? But it looks like Piers noticed something out of the ordinary easily! As expected from the man considered to be the third strongest trainer in Galar! I think he is, at least! Next time on GSM, Piers has a little talk with Victor and the rest of the group commences their Gym Battle against Kabu as well!
> 
> (Sniper bullet misses an inch overhead.)
> 
> GAH!
> 
> (Reloads and immediately fires back, nailing someone in the head.)
> 
> *#1 VICTORY ROYALE!*
> 
> (Glances up at sign)
> 
> ...
> 
> (Lowers gun.)
> 
> I... actually don't like this game that much...


	20. Rivals' Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu sitting alone in a bedroom in front of a computer screen.)
> 
> ...
> 
> What? You thought I was playing something else? Heh, I wish... As of today, I'm heading back to improve my education... yay. Meh, but it's not like I'm gonna stop this fic or my other one, but it's clear that chapters are probably gonna take longer to finish, maybe not for this week or next week though since I don't think I'll get too much work. But hey, I don't know for sure. But either way, I'll still be home for the entirety of my classes, so besides doing my standard work, I'm sure I'll still have a good amount of free time to keep working or to playing things. But enough about that, let's go over what ya boy has gone through last chapter.
> 
> (Flips open notebook)
> 
> Oh yeah, he almost got dunked on by Piers and Gloria, heh. But then he managed to escape and head on to his battle against the big man Kabu. Quite a good battle, if I do say so myself. But now let's see the aftermath of said battle, and see how the rest of the challengers are going to do against the ever-burning Kabu. I personally can't wait until Victor gets into the second part of the Wild Area, which is going to be HUGE compared to the southern part he was just in. But that's for a later chapter, let's see how he's doing now?
> 
> (Clicks play button on computer)

** ~{Motostoke Locker Room-8:56AM}~ **

"I'm alright... I-I'm alright..."

Victor was still in his white Gym uniform, forehead and hands on a locker as he took several deep breaths. Sweat was going down the side of his head as he kept his eyes closed, shaking in place.

"Cor? Cor?" Twilight was perched on one of the benches of the room, staring at his trainer with concern.

"Y-Yeah... I'm fine, Twilight. It's just... I don't really know myself, but I think it's gotta do with Dynamaxing..." Victor panted.

Twilight flapped his wings and perched himself on the open locker door next to his trainer. "Cor?"

"I-It's not like last time. Even after the battle ended, I still feel like I'm burning up... And it's not from Kabu..."

Victor weakly pushed himself off the locker and weakly looked up to Twilight with a strained smile.

"Heh... I-It's... getting worse." He turned his body and pressed his back against the locker, "I think... I may need to call mom... but..."

"...Cor?" Twilight's eyes narrowed.

Victor looked down, nervously shaking.

"Y-Yeah... She might freak out and make me come back... B-But I don't want to, not after making it this far..."

He sighed before raising his head to look straight up with his eyes closed. "I don't even think she can figure out what's wrong with me without any equipment... And she's never studied Dynamax energy, so I don't think she'd give a credible reason as to what's going on..."

He lowered his head and gazed down into his hand.

"It has something to do with my pokemon DNA... It must be reacting to Dynamax energy, but..."

Victor stood up straight, holding his still slightly burning right arm.

"Just what's it doing to me?"

*Knock! Knock! Knock!*

"Eh?" Victor stood up straight as he heard the locker room door, followed by silence. "Um... Who is it?"

As a response, he heard the door actually unlock, surprising him as he saw it open and watched Piers walk in looking bored, locking the door behind him as he made it in.

"P-Piers?" Victor blinked.

"Hey." The Gym Leader raised a hand as a greeting, only to see Victor hiding behind one of the locker doors while Twilight glared down from the same door.

Piers rolled his eyes, "Oi, I ain't here to bash your head..."

"So that  _ WAS _ what you were gonna do!? That's mean!" Victor pointed at him from behind the locker door.

Piers sighed, "Yeah, Marnie cleared up the whole thing of what happened last night."

Victor came out from behind the locker with a pout. "Why were you even mad at me in the first place!?"

"Because my  _ unconscious _ lil sis was  _ carried _ to a room by a  _ boy, _ all  _ alone _ ." Piers frowned.

Victor blinked a few times before realizing what he did wrong.

"Um... Whoops?"

Rather than get angrier, Piers' gloomy look returned. "Whatever, I just came here to get to know you a lil bit."

"Eh? Really!?!" Victor's started comedically glowing with sparkling eyes.

Piers deadpanned as his eyes started to sizzle, "Well, aren't you just a ray of sunshine?" He remarked sarcastically.

He then approached Victor, his arms slightly swaying as he walked.

"From what I heard from Marnie and Team Yell, you seem like an okay lad. And from watchin' you battle against Kabu, you're a pretty decent trainer. You got the quick thinking, and your pokemon got good reactions, but it seems to me that they ain't used to taking damage, so train em' better. And maybe try gettin' more moves for them?"

Victor was scribbling madly in a small notepad as he listened to Piers, nodding in interest.

_ "When'd hell he get that?" _ Piers sweatdropped.

"Thank you, Piers! I'll work hard on training my pokemon even more!" Victor looked up at him with sparkles.

"Sure..." Piers stared. "Hm, you seem like you'd be a good friend for Marnie."

"Hearing that from you makes me happy!" Victor stated with sparkles.

" _ But- _ "

Victor's sparkling stopped, the boy putting on a slightly worried look.

Piers walked up to be only a foot from the boy, looking down at him with narrowed eyes. "You've got some secrets... don't you?"

Victor stared at him with his eyes widened. "Eh?"

"You've got things you haven't told anyone, right?" Piers continued.

"Um... Everyone has  _ some _ secrets, so... why wouldn't I?" Victor awkwardly chuckled.

"It's not just 'some' secrets..." Piers said as he sat down on the locker room bench, placing his hands on his lap. "I saw what happened when you Dynamaxed your pokemon. You tried hidin' it, but you were clearly strugglin' to hold in somethin'... You tensed up a lot, your eyes were shakey, and your teeth were tightly pressed. And... what was up with those pink eyes? That ain't normal, kid..."

Victor now had a completely serious expression staring down Piers as the Gym Leader glared at him.

"Marnie seems to be fond of you... But how can I trust that  _ your _ secrets won't end up hurtin' her at one point?"

Victor looked down and narrowed his eyes.

"Because... I don't want anyone to learn my secrets. Otherwise, they might end up getting hurt..."

Piers tilted his head with an eyebrow raised. "What? So you're plannin' to keep big secrets about yourself for your entire life? And every day, my lil' sis is gonna risk getting hurt just  _ bein' _ around you?"

"No!" Victor raised his head with fire in his eyes. "As long as she doesn't know them, then she'll be safe! I'm gonna make sure everything works out! I'm going to take care of everything and sort out my life! And will make sure to protect Marnie with every breath of my life!"

"..." Piers stared at Victor's eyes for a good minute, examining the truth and determination in them while also wondering what he meant. "What the hell is going on with ya, kid?"

"Well... Victor looked down to his right arm, still feeling some stinging in it. "I... actually don't really know myself. Dynamaxing just kinda... hurts me."

"Ya can battle without it, just saying."

Victor chuckled, "Of course you'd say that. The third strongest trainer in Galar, and you don't even Dynamax your pokemon... It's actually what I like the most about you. To show everyone that you don't have to adapt to what everyone else is using in order to be strong."

"Hm, I appreciate it." Piers nodded.

"...Hey, Piers?"

"What is it?" The Gym Leader asked, looking bored yet again.

"Do you... wish that you guys had Dynamax energy again?"

Piers frowned, "What do you mean by that? To Dynamax my pokemon? Hell no."

"No, not that. Just... to have Dynamax energy for Spikemuth. To light it up like it used to be."

"..."

Piers was silent for a good minute, staring at the consideration in Victor's eyes.

"Did Marnie tell you about Spikemuth? Then ya decided to become friends with her?"

Victor shook his head, "No... When I met Marnie, I just knew that she was a good girl and wanted to be her friend. It was only until I met Rose in Hulbury and ran into Marnie yesterday that I learned about Spikemuth's past. I understood just how  _ mis _ understood everyone was of you and Team Yell."

"Hm..." Piers stood up from the bench. "If I'd have to say whether I'd prefer havin' Dynamax energy in town or not, I guess I would. It'd be nice to rock up the place even more. But don't go thinkin' of somethin' crazy to try and get it."

"Heh... I don't even know what I'd do to even get it." Victor chuckled. "I just know I really want everyone to see you guys shine again."

"..." Piers stared at Victor in silence for a few seconds. "Appreciate the thought, but I guess we're done here. I don't really care what's goin' on with you as long as it's nothin' illegal. I just wanna make sure you don't drag Marnie into whatever troubles you've gotten into." Piers told him.

"Don't worry, I'll do everything to keep her safe." Victor proudly declared with a determined fist.

"Hm, alright then... Maybe you could get along with her after all." Piers turned around and made his way to the door. "Treat her well, alright?"

"Of course." Victor nodded with a small smile.

As Piers grabbed the doorknob and unlocked it, he stopped.

"Oh yeah, one more thing..."

He turned his head, and Victor saw the pupils in the corner of his eyes flash menacingly red as they narrowed in on him.

"I know you did nothin' to her at the inn, but don't ever  _ think _ about tryin' anythin' with her, alright?"

Victor flinched, "U-Understood..."

Pier's glare turned into a neutral expression.

"Then maybe you and I could get along too."

He then left the room, leaving behind a sighing Victor and frowning Corvisquire.

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Stadium Lobby-A Few Minutes Later}~ **

"Guys! It's so good to see you again!"

Victor was back in his usual attire and ran to his waiting friends in the lobby, with Hop being the first to greet him in a hug.

Hop patted his friend's back before they let go of each other with big grins.

"Your battle was amazing, Victor! I never would have guess Midori hid in the tails of Kabu's Ninetales!" Hop laughed.

"Heh, I love thinking outside the box!" Victor laughed.

He then turned to see his two female friends there, but found some people missing around them.

"Huh? Where's Piers and Team Yell?"

"P-Piers left... and Team Yell went with him." Marnie answered, her Morpeko standing next to her while nibbling on a berry.

"Oh, really? I was actually kind of hoping to get to know them more..." Victor sighed.

Marnie stepped closer to Victor, looking both apologetic and nervous. "U-Um, Piers didn't cause ya any trouble, did he? W-We couldn't go after him to the locker room..."

Victor just gave Marnie a reassuring smile, "Don't worry, he and I just talked for a bit to make sure that I'd treat you well. Heh, he even said that we could probably get along!"

"Th-That... makes me worried..." Marnie stammered, wondering what her brother was thinking.

Victor then turned his attention to Gloria.

The girl was nervously fidgeting with her hands behind her back, a pout on her face as she averted her eyes from Victor.

"Um... Hi." Victor smiled nervously, stepping up to her.

Gloria looked down, keeping her pout.

"Sorry..."

"Eh?" Victor blinked.

"I... might've overreacted a bit." Gloria mumbled.

"A  _ bit _ ?" Hop sweatdropped.

"SHOR-RYU-KEN!" Gloria uppercut jumped Hop, sending him spiraling in the air.

"GAK!" He spun several times before crashing face-first onto the ground, twitching.

"Y-You... already used... that one..." Hop groaned from the floor.

Marnie nervously shivered while blue from shock, wondering how much that hurt.

"Would ya shut it!? I'm tryna apologize here!" Gloria snapped at him.

Victor sighed as he just walked closer to Gloria while she was focused on Hop.

_ "Alright, let's just..." _

He wrapped his left arm around Gloria's waist and pulled her close.

"HUH!? What are ya doing!?"

Gloria started to struggle in any way that didn't involve punching Victor, but the boy held her close as he removed her beanie with his other hand and tossed it on Hop's back. Then Victor made Gloria freeze entirely with a hand on her head.

"There we go... Good girl." Victor whispered as he gently brushed through her hair.

Gloria's entire face started burning red as she felt Victor's firm but gentle arm hugging her waist and felt how warm his hand was atop her head.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-Wha-?" She suddenly felt weak in her knees, causing her to start stumbling back against the boy.

"Uh-oh, one moment." Victor carefully walked the both of them back to one of the red couches of the Motostoke lobby, then sitting down with Gloria right on his lap. "There we go."

The girl fidgeted in silence for several seconds, unable to get any words out by how embarrassed she felt. But soon, with the power of head pats and how comfy she felt on Victor's lap, she slowly leaned back against him with her breathing coming out at a steady pace.

"There, you calm now?" Victor smiled as he continued moving his hand through her hair.

Gloria had her eyes closed and weakly nodded as her two arms hugged the one Victor was using to hold her.

And then...

*Snap!*

The girl's eyes shot open when she heard the sound of a camera, witnessing Hop with her beanie in one hand, and the boy's Rotom Phone in the other, a smug look on his face.

"Looks comfy." He said before another snap was heard from his phone.

"HOP!?! I'LL BLOODY KILL YA!!" Gloria burst in a dark aura and suddenly tried to lunge at him with as much ferocity as a wild animal, but Victor stopped patting her head and used both arms to keep her in place.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there, Gloria! Hop wouldn't show that to anyone, right Hop!?" Victor tried to calm her as he felt her struggle more than ever to tear Hop apart.

"Heh, I wouldn't show anyone that wasn't here. But man, is this gonna be fun to bring up!" He chuckled, putting his phone away.

"HOP! Delete that  _ right  _ now or so help me, I'll smash ya phone right on ya head!" Gloria shouted, struggling to stand due to Victor somehow able to easily pull her back.

"Welp, I think I'll take on Kabu now! Be sure to watch me!" Hop laughed before he tossed Gloria's beanie beside the two, then taking off.

"YE GIT BACK 'ERE RICHT NOW YE SON O' A-!!"

"Easy, Gloria, your accent is slipping." Victor stopped her as he covered her mouth with a free hand.

"Mmph! MMM!!" The girl had a murderous gaze as Hop waved to them before making his way to the locker room.

Marnie had just been silent the entire time, watching the group with a blank expression and feeling a bit out of place. Her Morpeko tugged her leg, looking up at her with a big smile.

"Mor! Mor!"

"Hm? Ah, ya wanna hug?" She reached down and picked up her pokemon in her arms, then turning back to see Gloria practically sinking on Victor in relaxation as if he was the couch itself.

_ "I-I-Is it really that comfy?" _ She couldn't help but wonder with a light blush.

"Hey, Marnie! Come sit with us! We could watch Hop's battle from the lobby TV!" Victor smiled at her as he once again started petting Gloria's head.

"U-Um... okay." Marnie nervously walked over and planted herself in a spot beside Victor, glancing at how comfortably glowing Gloria seemed. "D-Do... Do you guys always do this?"

Victor chuckled, "Nope, but whenever I do, it always calms her down."

Gloria pouted, despite keeping her eyes closed to relax. "Shut up..." 

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-???}~ **

"Oh, what a pity... To think I'd be forced to fly to Galar by pokemon just because the authorities don't appreciate the good work I've done before... Hm, but perhaps this will help me increase my bond with Magnezone!?" 

A tall man with blonde hair and a blue cowlick around his head was sitting on top of his Magnezone, a wide and circular pokemon almost like a flying saucer. Both were flying over the calm ocean waters underneath the bright morning sun. The man had yellow eyes with black glasses, wore a white lab coat with a black uniform underneath, and had black shoes. He held a tablet in his hand that he was gazing down into while lightly humming on his flight.

This man was Colress, a surprisingly cheerful and friendly scientist who only ever thinks about bringing out pokemon's full potential. And here he was, flying as quickly as his Magnezone could carry him across the ocean, aiming to get to Galar as soon as he could.

"Magnet Rise sure is useful, hoho! It's basically the same as having a flying pokemon with me." He grinned.

In his tablet, he read up on all the limited amount of data he had on his reason for coming to Galar.

"Subject V-49... Aka Victor. The 49th subject out of 50 children in laboratory one. He was the only experiment that was successful, but then stolen afterword immediately by his mother with the addition of the entire facility's computers being hacked and wiped clean so that Rainbow Rocket couldn't replicate the experiment's specific design."

There was a sudden jerk from Magnezone.

"Whoa!" Colress used a hand to grab hold of Magnezone's yellow antenna, and the other pressed his tablet tightly against himself to make sure it wouldn't fling off. "Phew..."

He looked down at his pokemon and chuckled, patting him as he felt the ride smoothen again.

"Did something happen, Magnezone?"

"Mag..." The Magnet Area pokemon apologized as its three eyes looked up at his trainer.

Colress laughed, "Oh how I wish I knew what you're saying! Perhaps I could ask subject V-49 to inform me of your opinion towards me?"

Magnezone looked ahead as he continued flying towards Galar, wondering about the boy his trainer talked about.

Colress looked back down to his tablet and started tapping a few things.

"Now then, just where  _ are  _ you?"

He looked at the media pointing out Victor's Gym Battle against Kabu in Motostoke, and also checked the information provided by Rainbow Rocket spies, learning that the boy hadn't moved to the Northern Wild Area yet.

"Then he must still be in Motostoke! Let's hurry, so we don't miss him!" Colress grinned.

Magnezone obliged and increased his speed, the water under him splitting as he soared over it.

"I wonder just how strong you and your pokemon are?" Colress chuckled excitedly, staring at an image of Victor after his victory against Kabu.

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Stadium-10:15AM}~ **

"Victor...?" Gloria mumbled as she looked down, not even bothering to look at the screen where Hop had just Dynamaxed his own Corvisquire, Sky.

"Yeah, Gloria?" Victor asked as his eyes sparkled to see Sky unleash a Max Airstream.

"Can... Can ya let me go now?"

"Are you gonna try to kill Hop when he comes back?"

Gloria pouted, "No..."

Victor used both hands to grab Gloria by the waist.

"Eep!" The girl turned completely red as Victor was somehow able to easily stand up and lift her up like a baby, then setting her down on the right of him.

Marnie stared from Victor's left with widened eyes at how easily he picked up the girl.

_ "Whoa... Could he pick me that easily?" _

Marnie blinked.

_ "Wait." _

She suddenly poofed into a red color with steam coming off her.

_ "What was I just thinking!?" _

Now seated beside him, Gloria turned to Victor while the boy focused on Hop's battle against Kabu.

"Oi."

Victor turned to her with an eyebrow raised, "What's wrong now?"

The girl narrowed her eyes at him.

"When did ya get so close to Nessa?"

Victor paused for a moment, blinking at her question.

"Where'd this come from?"

"I was planning to bring it up, but then that whole matter with Marnie and the inn happened... So out with it! When'd ya two become close friends!?"

Victor just formed a big smile.

"Just yesterday, actually! I couldn't fight her gym because you, Hop, and a few others beat her, making up five losses in a row for her. Then she..." His grin faded a bit. " She became depressed about it."

"Eh?" Gloria was surprised to hear that.

"I ran into her while she was feeling sorry for herself and ended up going with her to one of her photoshoots at the Lake Of Outrage."

"You went to the Lake Of Outrage!?!" Gloria raised her voice.

"H-How was it? I wanted to go there too..." Marnie spoke up with interest.

Victor turned to the Spikemuth girl with a large smile and stars in his eyes. "It was amazing! The water was so beautiful, and there were so many friendly pokemon! The camera crew took so many shots of Nessa and I with them, I wonder when they'll publish them!?" 

"And... you and Nessa suddenly became... 'friends' there?" Gloria stared at him with a look of suspicion.

Victor turned back to her with another bright smile.

"Yeah! She was in a bind, thinking that she'd have to give up being a Gym Leader or a model even though she loved doing both. But I managed to have her realize that she can do  _ both _ ! Heh, heh."

He happily swayed his head side to side. "And now we're friends!"

"Close friends if you guys hugged each other like at the end of your battle..." Gloria muttered with a pout.

"Hm? What was that?"

"Nothin'!"

** "Centiskorch is unable to battle! And that's it! As expected from the champion's little brother! The victor is Hop!" **

The three trainers glanced at the lobby's television and saw Hop's Corvisquire shrink back to normal size near Kabu's now unconscious Centiskorch.

"Ooo! Hop did it!" Victor cheered with his hands up. "That's my boy!"

"What are you, his mum?" Gloria sweatdropped.

"He's pretty strong..." Marnie commented in a low tone.

"He must've trained a lot against Onix! Haha!" Victor laughed.

"Ah! That's right! Why the bloody hell did ya sent Hop to get himself killed by that Onix!" Gloria shot up from her seat and turned to Victor.

"Eh? But I didn't send him to get killed, just to train so he'd get stronger... Speaking of which, aren't you gonna go fight Kabu next, Gloria?" Victor grinned.

"..." Gloria narrowed her eyes for a moment before turning around. "Alright, I'll go fight him, but you'd  _ better _ watch me!"

"Of course I'll watch you!" Victor immediately answered.

Gloria lightly flinched and blushed, then making her way to the front desk.

That left Marnie and Victor alone, with the boy turning to the girl with an awkward chuckle.

"Sorry about suddenly leaving you alone at the inn to explain everything for me... But I knew that neither Gloria nor Piers would do anything to hurt you. I don't think that would've been the case for me, though."

Marnie shyly turned to him as she fed her Morpeko a cookie.

"N-No... I should be apologizing for Team Yell and Piers... They always overreact when it comes to me..."

"I mean, I could understand why, though. If anything ever happened to you, then it'd give off as much panic as the end of the world!" He joked.

Marnie looked down with a blush. "D-Don't exaggerate like that..."

"No, seriously, if anything happened to you,  _ someone's _ gonna die." Victor deadpanned in dead seriousness.

Morpeko had a blank expression.

"Mor..." (Simp)

Victor gazed down at her with a similar blank look.

"P-Please don't kill anyone..." Marnie nervously shivered at the thought.

"Hey, guys!"

Marnie and Victor turned their heads to see Hop already changed back into his usual attire, running from the male's locker room.

"Did you see me!? Did you!? Wasn't I amazing!?" Hop gleamed as he approached the two.

"Sure did! You were great at not failing!"

"Don't praise me like that!" Hop abruptly shouted.

Victor started laughing at his friend's reaction as Marnie stared up at the television screen.

"So... Gloria's next?" She muttered.

"Oh! She already went to take on Kabu too?" Hop asked as he turned to the screen.

"Yeah, but I think there's someone before her. We might have to wait a little bit." Victor said.

Hop jumped and landed on the right of the couch, his impact causing Marnie and Victor to both bounce up in their spots.

"Heh! Can't wait to see how Gloria's team is coming along! I haven't seen them in a while." Hop grinned.

"Knowing her, she probably caught every single cute pokemon she could find. I just hope she could give time for all of them." Victor chuckled. "Oh! That reminds me!"

He reached into his backpack on the floor and released all his pokemon, although leaving Tesla in the bag. Twilight flapped his wings and perched himself on the back of the couch, Ace uncaringly started walking around, and Midori curiously stared up at Victor.

"Let's see how Luna's gonna do." Victor smiled down at him.

Midori turned his head and glanced up at the screen, then smiling as he jumped and sat down on one of the couch's armrests to watch.

As they waited, the doors of the stadium then opened, and Victor heard a familiar voice.

"*Yawn...* Damn it... To think  _ I _ would oversleep..."

Victor turned his head, and his eyes widened to see familiar platinum hair.

He shot up from his seat and waved with a big smile.

"Hi, Bede!"

The boy froze right in the middle of the lobby, his entire body tensing up to hear that voice.

"Oh no..." Bede's head twitched as he slowly turned right, catching sight of the one person he didn't want to see. "Damn it! I thought I lost you!"

He immediately started to bolt for the registration desk to sign up and escape to the locker room, but he didn't even make it two steps before Victor appeared right in front of him with a bright smile.

"Good to see you made it here safely!"

"What the-!?" Bede stopped in place with a look of shock, wondering how'd Victor get right in front of him so fast.

Even Hop and Marnie blinked in surprise as they swore that Victor was right next to them before seeing him right in front of Bede.

Bede backed up with a glare. "Will you ever leave me alone!?!"

"Oh, come on, Bede! Being alone isn't fun! Let me introduce you to my other friends!" Victor grabbed Bede by the hand and started guiding him to Hop and Gloria.

"Wha-!? Release me, you scoundrel!" Bede tried pulling his hand back with all his might, even trying to skid his shoes on the ground to halt, but Victor wasn't even phased and continued pulling him.

_ "What is this guy made of!?!" _ Bede thought as he frantically pulled.

"Guys! Say hi to Bede!" Victor smiled as he brought the boy to his two friends.

Hop and Marnie were standing up and couldn't help but look suspiciously at Bede.

Despite this, Hop shrugged and put on a big smile. "Hey, Bede! I'm Hop! Lee's little bro!"

"I-I'm... Marnie..." Spikemuth's goddess muttered nervously, recalling how rude the boy Victor brought over was.

Bede actually stopped struggling and raised an eyebrow when he heard Marnie, as how she sounded was... 'unexpected' from what he had assumed about her. But he quickly shook his head and put on another glare.

"I don't  _ care _ who you are! I don't intend to be friends with a brute from Spikemuth or a disgrace of a champion's little brother!"

Cross-veins formed in Hop's head while Marnie flinched with a hurt look.

"Oi! Play nice!" Victor karate chopped the back of Bede's head with a pout.

"Ow! What the hell!?" He growled as he clutched his head and turned to Victor. "Did you just lay your hands on me!?"

"Wow... He's a rude one." Hop deadpanned as he stared at Bede.

Marnie's Morpeko started sparking electricity from her cheeks as she turned dark into her Hangry mode. "Mor! Mor!"

"Hold on!" Victor got between everyone, just in case. "Bede! Marnie isn't a brute! She's the sweetest girl you'll ever know! And Hop being Leon's little brother shouldn't mean anything!"

"Sure." Bede scoffed with a roll of his eyes, then finally pulling his hand from Victor. "Don't try to involve me in your toxic circle... Let me take my challenge and stop bothering me already..."

Ace was peaking at the group while narrowing his eyes, almost tempted to kick something. Twilight glared at the boy from his spot on the couch, and Midori was actually sad as he stared at Bede from the armrest.

Bede quickly marched away to take on Kabu, leaving a frowning Hop, sad Marnie, and disappointed Victor behind.

"Jeez, what a jerk..." Hop muttered.

Marnie just looked down with her tufts of hair lowering too, in depression.

"I get the feeling... he doesn't like me..."

Victor sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "To be fair, I don't think he likes anyone but Rose..."

The mood seemed to turn a bit sour after Bede, but luckily, there was something to help them get excited again.

"Oo! Look! Gloria's already up!" Hop brightened.

The group, and even Bede from the registry, glanced up at the lobby television to see Gloria in her Gym Challenger Uniform, actually jogging side by side with Kabu as well.

The trio took back their seats and stared up at the screen. Even Victor's pokemon all curiously glanced up to watch her battle, besides Tesla, who was still sleeping.

Victor smiled confidently as he watched the girl and Kabu stop in the center of the arena.

_ "She'll do great!" _

* * *

** ~{Wyndon Stadium-10:30AM}~ **

** "And here we are, folks! Another day for another glorious battle to be seen! I'm sure all of you here today are excited to see this!" **

Wyndon Stadium, also called the 'Champion's Stadium' by the public, was always filled to the brim with people whenever a battle occurred. Why, you may ask? Because nearly every single battle that occurred in this stadium would always be held with the champion of the world, Leon. 

Today was no different, as thousands of people cheered in the stands as they saw their proud champion standing on the pure green grass field with a big grin reflecting the bright light of the sun.

Across from him was his challenger, Galar's fighting prodigy, and the proud warrior determined to take this victory and finally end Leon's perfect streak. Bea had the usual stoic gaze on her face, but the sunlight reflecting off her eyes made it seem like flames were coming from them.

"Hey, Bea! How've you been?" Leon grinned with a wave. He thought about Rose's words to be more casual and social around the girl to see if they could along, hoping he could break her out of her shell.

"I've been well, Leon. I've been training all the way up to this day to face you again." The Fighting master answered with a polite boy.

"Heh, really? You trained that much for me? I'm flattered." Leon laughed.

"Of course! I'm determined to prove to everyone that I'm the strongest in Galar, starting by ending your perfect streak!"

"Oh Bea, you know I don't lose!" Leon chuckled.

Bea did a high kick before stomping her foot and crouching on the ground into a fighting position, raising her arms so one fist was pointed forward while the other was pulled close to her chest.

"You will today!"

Leon grinned as he pulled out his Pokeball.

"That's the spirit! Show me that fighting passion!"

Bea's eyes had determination as she pulled out her own Pokeball.

_ "I won't lose... Not after everything I've trained for..." _

** "Let the exhibition match  _ begin!! _ " **

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Stadium Battle}~ **

"Bolt! Charge in with Spark!"

"Yamp! Yamp!" The little Yamper was surrounded by electricity as he scurried towards Arcanine, who was currently charging right at him using Flame Wheel.

Both collided together in a giant explosion, to which Bolt was then one sent flying back.

"Yamp!" He landed on the ground and rolled with some bruises on him.

"Bolt! Are ya okay!?" Gloria shouted.

Across from them, Arcanine stepped out of the smoke, wincing a bit while shaking his head.

"Can ya get up, Bolt!?" Gloria shouted.

As a response, Bolt growled as he slowly pushed himself up from the ground, shaking. Suddenly, his body started to glow entirely blue and change in shape, making everyone's eyes widen.

** "Well, would you look at that!? Once again, Challenger Gloria's pokemon is evolving right in the middle of a battle! What a sight!" ** The commentator announced.

Sure enough, Bolt's body grew, his legs stretched, his snout extended, and he became much taller. In a few seconds, the bright blue lights vanished to reveal a Boltund, a white and yellow dog pokemon, standing tall and proud.

"Atta boy!!" Gloria shouted with a fist up in the air.

Kabu laughed across from her, "I can feel the flaming determination from your pokemon through your evolution! But it won't help you! Arcanine, Will-O-Wisp!"

"Ar!" Arcanine spit out a small, sinister blue flame towards Bolt.

"Run and jump right at him!" Gloria shouted.

"Bolt!" The newly evolved Boltund ran forward and jumped to avoid the quick ball of flames, making his way to Arcanine.

"Bite him, Arcanine!" Kabu shouted.

"Ar!" Arcanine dove forward with his jaw open.

"Charge right into his mouth with Spark!" Gloria countered.

Bolt barked before leaping right at Arcanine's head, his body covered in electricity. Bolt slammed quickly into his opponent's face with his much faster speed before Arcanine could clamp his jaws in him, electrifying the pokemon's whole body.

Arcanine let out a howl before falling back with a slam, with Bolt landing right on him.

** "And Kabu's second pokemon is down! This seems to be going well in the challenger's favor!" **

"Thanks, Bolt! I'm proud of ya!" Gloria shouted with a jump.

"Bolt! Bolt!" Her Boltund barked, his tongue hanging out happily.

"Well then, I guess your pokemon's newfound power did help." Kabu chuckled as he returned Arcanine.

"Bolt, return!" Gloria pulled out her pokemon and returned Bolt, who nodded happily as he was absorbed back.

"Oh? Switching now?" Kabu questioned curiously.

"Yup! I know what's ya last pokemon!" Gloria brought out another Pokeball, then tossing it. "Come on, Luna!"

Her Pokeball clicked open to reveal the sparkling blue pokemon.

"Kirlia!"

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Lobby}~ **

"Eh? Her Kirlia? I thought she'd bring out Bubbles right now?" Victor said as he stared at Gloria Dynamaxing her pokemon.

"Maybe her Kirlia wanted to show off?" Hop smiled as he and Midori kept their eyes stuck to the screen.

"Hm, well even if Luna goes down, I'm sure Bubbles could come in and clean things up." Victor muttered as he watched Kabu Gigantamax his Centiskorch.

"Her Kirlia is so pretty..." Marnie muttered in awe at the blue and orange colors.

The group's eyes remained glued to the screen as Kirlia Max Guarded against Centiskorch's Max Flutterby. Then Luna sent a Max Mindstorm to-

"Hold up, did she just  _ one-shot _ Kabu's Centiskorch?" Victor deadpanned, watching Kabu's pokemon fall to the ground and shrink.

"Hey, didn't you do it too?" Hop nudged him.

"But Twilight's Max Airstream was Super-Effective, Luna's Max Mindstorm only does normal damage... Man, must she have a lot of Special Attack..."

** "And the winner is challenger Gloria! What a tremendous feat of strength from her Kirlia!" **

The Dynamax Kirlia turned to one of the cameras and smiled happily, then shrinking back to normal.

Midori smiled back, impressed by her power.

"So now we've all beaten Kabu's challenge!" Hop jumped with a cheer.

"Not quite, there's still another." Victor smiled.

"Eh? Who?"

"Bede."

Hop turned to him in disbelief, "What the-!? That guy!? You're gonna watch his battle!?"

"I mean, he's a challenger like us, so he's also a rival! I wanna see him fight!" Victor grinned.

"Well... I'm kinda curious too..." Marnie muttered, then actually frowning a bit. "I wanna beat him."

Hop shrugged, "Hm, guess that makes sense. He should be next since no one else came in after Gloria."

Sure enough, a few minutes after Gloria left the field, the screen showed text that the next challenger would be Bede.

"I've battled Bede twice. He's pretty good." Victor smiled.

"Really? Someone that full of himself is actually a good trainer?" Hop asked with an eyebrow raised. "Did you beat him?"

"Yup! Both times, actually! He's not bad, but he needs to work on treating his pokemon better. That's what I think, at least." Victor thought as he recalled Bede and how uncomfortable his Hatenna seemed around him. "But, at least he has some of the skills to back up being a little arrogant." He chuckled.

"D-Does... he have any cute pokemon?" Marnie actually asked embarrassingly.

Victor laughed, "He sure does! He prefers Psychic-types, actually!"

"Victor!"

The mentioned boy turned his head and stood up to see Gloria running towards him as happy as can be, with Luna running cheerfully beside her.

"Did ya see me!? Did ya!?" She stopped in front of Victor and started bouncing in place.

"I sure did! You were amazing!" Victor said with a big smile.

"Hehe~" Gloria had her hands on her cheeks with a light blush as she looked down with a big smile.

Luna immediately approached Midori as he stepped down from the couch to meet her, thee female Kirlia jumping up and down excitedly from her recent victory.

"Kirl." Midori congratulated her.

"Kirl! Kirl!" Luna said happily with a bright aura around her.

Midori suddenly flinched and took a step back with a light blush. "K-Kirl?"

Luna repeatedly nodded up and down while patting her hands together in excitement, even turning a little red.

Hop heard them talking to each other while Victor and Gloria talked, the boy curiously peaking at them.

He watched as Midori awkwardly stepped closer to a patiently waiting Luna, who was anxiously rubbed her hands together while looking down with a small smile. Then Midori nervously reached one of his hands forward and...

Started patting her head.

Hop stared with a blank gaze as he watched Midori nervously rub Luna's head while Luna visibly shivered in delight.

*Snap!*

Hop turned left and saw Marnie with her phone aimed at the two Fairy-types, a tiny trail of blood coming from her nose as she maintained a face of bliss.

_ "S-So cute!!" _ The girl squealed to herself.

Hop had flowers around him as he stared at his friends and how they were all acting.

_ "I love this group." _

"Eh!?  _ THAT  _ guy!?!" Gloria suddenly shouted.

Hop sighed.

_ "Oh great... Way to ruin the moment..." _

He and Marnie turned to Gloria and Victor. "What happened?"

"All I did was tell her about Bede. He's up to battle Kabu any moment, after all." Victor answered him.

Gloria looked irritated with cross-veins on the side of her head. "I don't like that guy... Not one bit..."

"But you haven't even talked to him!" Victor told her.

"But I  _ know _ he's an arse!" Gloria snapped as she punched her hand into her palm. "I've seen how smug he can be in battle! Every time I see him, I wanna bash his face in!" 

"I don't think that's healthy..." Victor sweatdropped. "I'm actually trying to be his friend..."

Hop, Gloria, Marnie, and even the pokemon stared at him with blank gazes.

"What?" Victor sweatdropped.

"Friends, with  _ him _ !? Victor, come on! I know ya nice and all, but ain't that tryin' too hard!? I mean... Look at him!" Gloria pointed both of her hands at the screen to reveal Bede walking into the arena, smug as ever.

"He's a pretty mean and self-centered bloke..." Hop sighed.

"And doesn't get along with anyone..." Marnie finished.

Victor's pokemon all nodded, recalling their previous encounters with the boy.

Victor opened his mouth to say something but then closed it, know that he couldn't exactly deny anything they had said.

"Okay..." He sighed. "Look... He may seem... 'problematic,' but he's not really a bad guy. He even took the Gym Challenge just to make Chairman Rose proud."

"Ya mean ta suck up ta him..." Gloria grumbled.

Victor shushed her with a finger up, "No! Not for that! He just wants to help Rose to... repay him."

The trio in front of him curiously tilted their heads.

** "Let the Gym Battle begin!" **

"Oh! They're starting!" Victor turned to the screen in excitement, watching Bede throw a Great Ball.

** "Bede's first pokemon is a Duosion! It seems it evolved while our challenger was traveling!" **

Victor blinked as he registered that Bede's previous Solosis was now a Duosion, a larger and chubbier version of its previous self.  _ "Huh!? But didn't I just fight him yesterday!?!" _

The group watched in interest as Bede kept a level head and smiled throughout his battle, not letting himself lose focus or freak out even if his pokemon got hurt.

"He's... actually pretty good?" Hop blinked as he watched Duosion's many orbs from Psyshock all connected to Kabu's Ninetales.

They remained standing while staring at the screen, with Bede already knocking out Kabu's first pokemon without too much trouble.

"He's strong..." Marnie muttered, although she didn't like to admit it.

Bede returned his Duosion as Kabu returned his Ninetales, both trainers sending out their second pokemon.

_ "His Gothita evolved into a Gothorita too?" _ Victor blinked as he saw another previous Psychic-type pokemon now changed in appearance. She was taller and looked like she had buns of hair now, looking more mature than her previous form.

The group watched as Bede's new Gothorita maintained its distance from Arcanine using ranged attacks such as Psybeam or Rock Tomb.

"He's got the strategy down." Hop muttered.

The battle of keep away went on for a few more minutes until Gothorita managed to take Arcanine down with a Psybeam after lowering his speed so many times with Rock Tomb.

Then once again, Bede switched out his pokemon while Kabu returned his unconscious Arcanine back.

"He sure switches out a lot..." Gloria grumbled as she saw Bede pull out another Great Ball.

Victor saw how much Bede was grinning and couldn't help but smile a bit.

_ "He actually really enjoys pokemon battles, doesn't he?" _

Bede tossed his last Great Ball, and it was revealed to be...

"C-Cute!" Marnie and Gloria both stammered as they stared at the new pokemon with shining eyes.

"Oh! A Hattrem!" Hop smiled excitedly.

Victor's eyes widened as he even saw Bede's Hatenna now as a Hattrem, a small pink pokemon with large blue hair resembling a large hat on her head with two large pony-tail tufts of hair she was using to stand on. 

Bede was grinning as he put a hand over his face dramatically, while Hattrem glanced back and smiled at her trainer.

That got Victor to recall the time Bede's Hattrem was a Hatenna and had been uncomfortably glancing back at Bede during their battle against him, also reminded of what he had told the boy afterward.

_ "Bede, just... Think of your pokemon more." _

Victor smiled proudly.

"So... he actually ended up listening?"

Bede Dynamaxed his Hattrem as Kabu Gigantamaxed his Centiskorch, but...

We all know how that ends.

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Lobby- A Few Minutes Later}~ **

Bede walked out of the locker room with hands on his hips and eyes closed, looking as smug as ever.

_ "Hmph, a perfect battle. Not a single one of my pokemon were knocked out, as expected from me." _

"Hey, Bede!"

Bede flinched as the veins on his head started popping out.

He opened his eyes to see Victor waving both hands at him with his other friends staring at him from behind.

He turned his head to ignore them, but somehow, Victor appeared right in front of him at startling speeds once more.

"What the-!?" He stumbled back, but Victor grabbed both of his hands while smiling up at him.

"You were great! And all three of your pokemon actually evolved!?! That's amazing! Did you actually listen to me and treat them better, after all!?"

Bede's eye twitched as he had on a face of disgust at Victor, "I-I- That had nothing to do with you!"

"Sure, sure!" Victor laughed as he playfully patted Bede on the back.

Victor was suddenly grabbed by the collar and pulled close, making his eyes widen to see Bede's face of pure anger in front of his while having a fist cocked back.

"This is the  _ last _ time I'll warn you, challenger! If you don't stop messing with me, then I'll  _ make  _ sure you don't!"

Victor raised his hands in surrender while his entire demeanor turned completely calm and serious.

"Easy, Bede. You don't want to do this even if I  _ do _ talk to you again. Rose actually seems to like me, and we know he cares for you, so how do you think he'll react to hear that you punched me?"

Bede's pupils narrowed in anger. "Are you  _ threatening _ me that you'll tell him!?"

"No, of course not! But... I don't think  _ she'll _ be quiet about it. In fact, she might even make sure you never talk to Rose again..." Victor awkwardly sweatdropped as one of his fingers pointed behind Bede.

Bede blinked in confusion before finally feeling a chilling aura behind him.

_ "EEP!" _ He flinched before his head slowly turned in a robotic matter to the gaze behind him, the corner of his eyes picking up a black silhouette with red eyes and blazing in a fiery aura.

He let go of Victor and instinctively hid behind him at the sight of the Scottish girl threatening to beat him to a pulp.

"What do ya think ya're doing?" Gloria's voice was menacing, and her eyes flashed comedically red while she cracked her knuckles together.

"Easy, Gloria. Easy." Victor told her as he made sure to keep himself between Bede and the girl.

Hop and Marnie approached them, keeping quiet to see how everything would play out.

"Victor, I'ma need ya ta step aside." Gloria growled.

"Sorry, Gloria, but I really don't want you hitting him."

"He just  _ threatened _ to punch ya!" Gloria shouted.

"Um... that's just who he is?" Victor shrugged with an awkward smile.

Bede calmed down from the scary feeling of death he had encountered, now backing away from the two with a scowl. 

"What a violent gorilla..."

Cross-veins popped up all over Gloria as her aura burst up into pure flames.

She leaped right towards Bede with a violet cry, but Victor caught her in his arms and chest to hold her back.

"Hold on, Gloria! We don't need anyone dying today!"

Gloria reached her arms forward with her hands, flailing towards Bede while Victor hugged her with his feet planted.

"YA FOOKIN' PIECE O' SHITE!! WHIN AH GIT MAH HAUNS OAN YA I'M GONNA RIP AFF YA PATHETIC BOABY 'N' MAK' YA SLOCH IT!"

Marnie, Hop, and the pokemon around them were all comedically black and white with deadpanned expressions.

Victor blinked with a blank gaze as he processed her speech, "Excuse me...  _ what _ ?"

Bede was backing up with his eyes widened all the way by the sudden violent outburst by Gloria. He could feel her aura intending to snap him in two, and he was  _ not _ gonna figure out if she could actually do it.

"A-All of you stay away from me!" He turned around and bolted for the exit, leaving everyone.

"GIT BACK 'ERE YE SON O' A BOOT SAE AH KIN RIP YER SPINE RICHT OOT YER GEGGY!"

_ "What is she even saying!?!"  _ Victor wondered as he continued pulling her back with his enhanced strength, the only thing keeping Gloria from killing the boy.

"My, what a lively bunch!" Someone laughed.

Everyone turned to see Kabu now in the lobby with him, managing to at least calm some of Gloria's anger with her surprise to see him.

"Kabu? Shouldn't you be fighting more challengers?" Hop raised an eyebrow.

The flaming male approached him, holding his towel around his neck. "On the contrary, there aren't any more challengers left to battle!"

Victor, still with his arms around Gloria's waist to hold her, glanced at the receptionist's table to see no more people.

_ "Well... It's still pretty early. I'm sure more challengers will come later."  _

"Besides! Even if there were more challengers, they'd have to wait! Right now, I'm here to see all of you off!" Kabu continued with a happy smile.

"Eh? See us off?" Marnie repeated with a confused expression.

"Oh! You're here too? Good to see ya again, lassie." Kabu nodded. "There are many trainers who never manage to gather three badges, and they just give up on the Gym Challenge altogether. So I make it a point to see off any of the trainers who were able to defeat me!"

"O-Oh yeah... You did personally walk me out of your gym..." Marnie remembered after she had beaten Kabu.

At this point, Gloria had stopped paying attention to Kabu, and her anger had fallen when noticing how close and tight Victor's embrace around her was. Her face was red and was looking down at the boy's surprisingly toned arms.

_ "Wh-When did he ever get those!?!" _

Victor felt her shaking and turned to see her no longer lashing out.

"Um... Gloria? You good now?"

The girl nodded bashfully. "Y-Y-Yeah..."

Victor carefully let her go, and the girl stepped away from him while fiddling her fingers together.

_ "Ah, to be young."  _ Kabu brightly shined as he stared at the two. "Well, are you all planning to head towards Hammerlocke Stadium immediately?"

Now that had everyone thinking.

"Actually...  _ should  _ we?" Victor muttered aloud.

"We would already be heading through the Northern Wild Area, and that'd give me a great chance to start filling out more of my team!" Hop excitedly exclaimed.

"I-I actually wanted to check out some of the stores here..." Marnie timidly spoke.

Gloria was still looking down, nervously shaking, while faintly recalling the feeling of Victor's arms around her.

Victor smiled as he snapped his fingers, "Actually, I don't think we should go yet! We're all finally back together after taking on Kabu's gym, and I have no doubt we won't see each other for a while because I'll want to head off to the Wild Area on my own. So... Let's spend some time together!"

Hearing that, Gloria immediately snapped out of her embarrassing thoughts and turned to Victor as happy as possible.

"Really!?!"

Hearing that made Kabu start thinking with a hand on his chin. "Well, there are actually many things to do in Motostoke. It  _ is _ one of the largest cities in Galar, so you should all be able to find something that suits you all."

"He's right about that, even I sometimes come here to enjoy myself." Someone else spoke.

Victor realized that none of them said that, so he glanced back with widened eyes to see who came through the gym's doors.

"Milo!?  _ Nessa _ !?"

Sure enough, Turffield's farmer and Hulbury's supermodel had both walked into the lobby with big smiles.

"It's good to see you again, Vict-whoa!" Nessa was caught off guard as Victor appeared right in front of her, embracing her in a hug while laughing.

"I honestly thought I'd see you like in weeks or something! Not the very next day!" He looked up at her with a close-eyed smile.

Nessa paused as she saw the pure smile he had, then smiling back as she reached down and petted his head over his beanie. "Heh, I actually forgot to mention that we'd see each other again after you beat Kabu."

Gloria once again had a dead gaze as she stared directly at Nessa while the young adult rubbed Victor's head.

"Upupupupup!" Hop quickly rushed right in front of the girl, actually looking serious with a hand halting her. "We don't need any more of that. Just accept that Victor is so social that he hugs girls too, alright? Don't cause any more trouble for him."

Hearing him word it like that, Gloria's hands balled into fists, but she turned her head away with a pout. "Fine..."

Milo smiled next to Nessa with his hands on his hips. "Wow, I hadn't seen anyone hug Nessa like that since I witnessed her tell Sonia that she became a model!"

Victor let go of Nessa and turned to Milo with his arms open, eyes sparkling.

"You want one too?"

That made Milo let out a heartfelt laugh. "You sure do love expressing yourself, don't you?" The large male opened his arms, "But what kind of monster would I be to reject a hug?"

The muscly man and innocent boy did a  _ manly _ hug, patting each other's backs with laughs as their arms wrapped around one another.

"He even hugs guys, see?" Hop pointed for Gloria to see, proving that Victor's hugs shouldn't mean anything but for friendly contact.

Gloria just continued to pout.

_ "I wish I could be as confident and outgoing as Victor..."  _ Marnie couldn't help but think with a small sigh.

When Victor and Milo backed up, that was then the boy actually started to think about something.

"Wait, why are you both here?" He tilted his head.

Nessa had one hand on her hip as she answered, "Well, we consider it pretty amazing whenever someone beats Kabu."

Milo continued, "Not a lot of Gym Challengers can get a Gym Badge from him. So we like to get together to see the victors off, like a way of showing our support."

The Grass-type Gym Leader caught sight of Marnie, and his eyes brightened.

"Oh! Marnie, right? After you won against Kabu, I came here to see you off, but you had already gone." He awkwardly chuckled. 

"R-Really?" Marnie mumbled.

"Yeah, I was the only one here. Not even Nessa came, so I was feeling pretty embarrassed by myself."

"Oh, sorry about that. I was... going through some things." Nessa sighed with an embarrassed smile.

Victor couldn't help but chuckle as he understood what Nessa meant.

"It's alright, I'm just glad we're here to send all of these wonderful challengers off." Milo said, glancing at everyone. "Oh, where did that Bede fella go? He just beat Kabu just a bit ago, right?"

The kids sweatdropped.

"He's... not really one to stick around." Hop answered.

"Heh, I already know what you mean." Nessa giggled, recalling battling Bede and congratulating him. She then turned her head and caught sight of Luna and Midori side-by-side.

She instinctively flinched and took a step back.

"Bad memories, Nessa?" Kabu laughed.

"Shut up..." The model frowned.

Luna and Midori apologetically smiled.

"So we  _ were _ gonna wish you guys the best of luck as you went out to the Northern Wild area, but you guys mentioned staying in Motostoke to enjoy yourselves, right?" Milo then asked everyone.

"Oo! Do you have some places in mind!?" Victor asked excitedly.

"I do, I could point them out on the map if you'd like." The farmer answered.

"How about you three just come with us?" Victor asked the three Gym Leaders.

"Now, now, I'm sure you wouldn't want an old man like me spending time around you younger folks, would you?" Kabu waved off the idea.

"I'd actually love if ya came with us, Kabu!" Hop smiled.

"I-I don't mind..." Marnie nodded.

"You guys come too!" Victor appeared between Milo and Nessa while linking his arms with theirs, visibly excited.

"Well, I don't have any more work to do today." Milo thought.

"And of course,  _ I'd _ wanna hang around you again!" Nessa smiled at Victor

Everyone then turned to Kabu, waiting for him to answer.

The man of flames grinned. "If I'm requested to come, then of course I'll come along! I know Motostoke like the back of my hand, so I'll point you out to some of the best places to visit!"

"Yay! Then let's go!" Victor cheered.

"I believe we should start off with the main square of Motostoke, that's where the common, but still great stores are." Kabu insisted with an arm raised.

"Actually, we should find something to eat! None of us actually ate breakfast yet because a lot of things happened this morning." Hop said as his stomach started growling.

"Oh! then allow me to take you to my favorite place to eat, the Battle Cafe!" Kabu cheered.

"Well, that sounds... interesting." Gloria muttered as she heard the name.

"OO! Lee told me about it before, but I've actually never been to it! Let's go! Come on!" Hop suddenly bolted right at the door.

"Hop!? Do you even know where the bloody hell it is!?!" Gloria shouted but not bothering to chase him this time.

"Hahaha! He's just like his brother! Always rushing ahead." Milo laughed.

"But does he get as  _ lost _ as him?" Nessa joked.

"Surprisingly... he doesn't." Victor unlinked his arms from Nessa and Milo and watched as Hop already disappeared outside.

Marnie stood beside Victor looking... excited? The boy was just noticing Marnie seeming brighter than usual while holding her Morpeko.

"You excited to go somewhere together with a bunch of friends?" He tilted his head with a sweet smile.

Marnie flinched when he asked that, turning a little red but managing to turn to him nervously.

"Y-Yeah... "

"I am too." Victor responded happily. 

"Let's head out now while it's still early! We don't want the shops filling up with people!" Nessa spoke with an arm up.

"Allow me to lead the way then!" Kabu proudly spoke as he walked past the group.

"Heh, it's been a while since I've had a meal with others." Milo said as he turned to follow Kabu.

Everyone started to follow the Fire-user out, making it outside where Victor immediately turned his head left and right to search for someone.

_ "Aw, Ball Guy left... He never sticks around when I go to battle a Gym Leader." _ He couldn't help but think, disappointed.  _ "Oh well, I'll see him again in Stow-On-Side." _

Victor looked up as his diverse group made their way to Motostoke's lift to carry them from the top level of the city to the bottom. Thinking of Stow-On-Side, he thought of who his next opponent in the Gym Challenge would be, Bea.

_ "A part of me really wants to go and fight Bea right now! She has such a strong fighting style!" _

And thinking of Bea, Victor suddenly stopped walking and repeatedly blinked before he could get onto the Motostoke lift, recalling something important.

"AH! OH NO!" He suddenly shouted and put his hands on his head.

Everyone jumped in shock before turning to him.

"Wh-What's wrong?" Marnie was surprisingly the one to ask first.

Victor looked at them all with a comedic look of horror.

"I forgot to watch the exhibition match between Bea and Leon!!"

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-Wyndon Stadium}~ **

"Use Flamethrower!" Leon shouted with a point of his hand.

"Jump to the side, Machamp!"

The tall Superpower Pokemon with four arms moved just on time to avoid a blaze of flames from Leon's Charizard.

_ "We're close! We're SO close!" _ The Machamp's trainer felt beads of sweat going down the side of her head. She was panting hard as her eyes burned with her fighting spirit, running down the side of the field while shouting instructions to her ace pokemon.

"You've really gotten stronger since last time, Bea!" Leon laughed as his Charizard flew in the air and circled around Machamp.

The martial-arts prodigy didn't even seem to acknowledge that he said anything. She was completely engrossed in her battle as her Machamp did everything in its power to win. She wasn't even fighting herself, yet she felt just as exhausted as her pokemon, sweat dripping all over her. It was finally a one versus one, the last stretch of the match to take her victory.

"Head straight for him!" Leon shouted with a confident smile.

"Char!" His Charizard flew down right at Machamp, flying like an arrow and aiming right towards him.

Bea's eyes widened. This was a mistake from Leon. His Charizard was recklessly coming in fast without any signs of slowing down. This was her chance, her day, her  _ moment _ .

"USE VITAL THROW!!" It was rare for Bea to ever scream as loud as she did, but she knew she had to prioritize Leon's mistake, to finally seize her moment.

"Ma-!" Her Machamp turned sideways just as Charizard came in, using her two top arms in precise timing to grab him by the neck. She then pulled with all her might and swung Charizard over her head.

"-CHAMP!" The pokemon threw Charizard into the ground and created a power slam, kicking up giant dust clouds.

The audience gasped right after the attack, everyone on the edge of their seats to see Leon's strongest pokemon slammed down like that.

Machamp stepped backwards to get out of the dust, panting with her eyes widened.

Bea was just in the same state, her eyes completely open with her pupils even shaking. Machamp had successfully nailed the move, and knowing its strength, must've done tremendous damage.

There wasn't any movement in the dust for several seconds, making everyone wonder... did she really do it?

_ "He... He's not getting up."  _ Bea thought, unable to believe what she was thinking.  _ "We... did we-!?" _

"Slash him!"

"What?" Bea blinked and was shocked to see Charizard fly out of the dust clouds with his claws swinging.

Bea nearly choked on her breath, feeling desperation fill her.

"Machamp! DODGE-!"

"CHAR!" It was already too late, as Charizard had already slung his claws and slashed Machamp's chest.

"Ch-Champ!" Machamp cried in pain before falling back.

And that was all it could take.

She fell to the ground, eyes closed and body going limp as she became unconscious.

** "And with a slash, that's it! Machamp can't get up! It's all over!!" **

Bea's eyes dilated.

_ "What?" _

She stared at the scene in front of her. Her Machamp knocked out on the ground, Leon's Charizard roaring up in victory, and Leon himself raising a hand in the air and doing his signature Charizard pose once more.

** "Once again, the champion adds another victory to his unbeatable streak! Give it up for Leon!!" **

_ "N-No..." _

Bea found herself running to the middle of the field, falling onto her knees and putting her arms atop her Machamp.

"Machamp! Get up! We can still do this!"

Her Machamp remained motionless, eyes not even opening.

"Please get up! You have to get up!"

There still wasn't any movement.

Bea felt her hands ball into fists as she hung her head, feeling the most frustrated ever. It was supposed to be here. This was where she had the chance to finally take down Leon. And for a moment, she swore she had won, swore that for once, his Charizard had stopped moving. But then... it was as if the world decided to mess with her, having the fire pokemon get up and strike her Machamp down as if nothing happened.

_ "We're not strong enough..." _

She drowned out the cheers of the crowd.

_ "I..." _

Her hands shook.

_ "We..." _

She took a deep breath and clenched her teeth together.

_ "We have to train even more." _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Closes laptop and spins in chair.)
> 
> Oh, yeah. It's all coming together.
> 
> So it looks like everyone else is successful in taking down Kabu. And what's this!? Milo and Nessa are here!? *Gasp!* And it looks like next chapter they're all gonna have some fun! Yay, a feels good filler chapter next! And... Oof, it looks like Bea is suffering a case of plot armor from Leon. There's no one he can lose too... At least, not yet. But yeah, Bea's gonna feel that loss for a while. And next time, we're just gonna have a good time before it's finally off to the Wild Area once more! I wonder what our odd group of powerful trainers will do to help themselves relax?
> 
> Until next time, folks!
> 
> (Goes to notebook filled with school papers)
> 
> This... is gonna suck.


	21. Motostoke's Offers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu standing around a table of differently colored crewmates)
> 
> Hey everybody! Good to see you all again! As I've said, chapters are taking longer than usual to do because of school, yippee. Luckily, I'm still using some of my time to write, especially since my classes aren't too bad. But yeah, I'm surprised that I'm bringing out chapters this long and in this amount of time, because I honestly think it would take other people so much longer to post chapters with much thought and length into it.
> 
> (Crew members split, with Mimikyu heading down.)
> 
> So anyway, in the previous chapter of ya boi's journey, we had the rest of the squad finish their battles against Motostoke's burning Gym Leader, Kabu, and they've done it! We left at our favorite model and baby-faced man showing up to spend some quality screentime with our group! What will they do with their time? Where will they go? What's going on with Bea now that she's lost? Let's find out!
> 
> (Walks in electrical and sees red crew next to cyan crew corpse)
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> You serious? We... We literally just started.

**~{Motostoke Streets-11:25AM}~**

"Aw, man... I ended up missing it!" Victor pouted as he stared down at his phone while moping.

"I can't believe we forgot about Leon's exhibition battle..." Hop sighed from Victor's right, also on his Rotom phone to only see the battle results.

"I guess we were all just kinda focused on beating Kabu." Gloria muttered from Victor's left.

"Pay attention to where you're walking, young challengers. You don't want to run into something, do you?" Kabu grinned from the front of the pack.

Nessa came from behind Victor with a grin and rustled his hair through his beanie, "Come on now, you could always watch his battle later on Galar's main page."

Victor rose his head and fixed his beanie while Gloria stared at Nessa with a dead gaze. "But I like watching Leon's battles live. Otherwise, I end up getting anxious while watching and get tempted to skip to make it faster! Sometimes, I even just skip to the end because I can't take it anymore!"

"It be like that sometimes." Milo chuckled.

"I-I don't usually feel nervous watching Leon battle... I just accept that he'll always win... until he faces me, that is." Marnie timidly added.

"Heh, you can beat him after _I_ become champion." Hop grinned.

"As if you'll be it." Gloria rolled her eyes.

_"So cold!"_ Hop deadpanned.

The group walked through the streets of Motostoke, or in Kabu's case, _jogged_ through. Passerbys couldn't help but be surprised as they eyed all the unique individuals coming by. After all, three of Galar's Gym Leaders walking with the three children endorsed by the champion is quite the sight. Not only that, but it was even more shocking to see Marnie, one of Spikemuth's considered ringleaders, also accompanying the group.

"Alright, you young lads and lassies! We're here!" Kabu came to an abrupt stop and turned on his heels so that he faced the group behind him, waving a hand to present their destination.

Victor looked up at a sign that read, **The Battle Cafe** , and saw a logo of an orange background with a white design of a man's head right next to a steaming cup of coffee.

"So this is it? Looks small." Gloria muttered.

Kabu, Milo, and Nessa just grinned at her first assumption.

"Well, let's not waste any time now! Let's go in and get some proper meals for you kids!" Kabu urged them as he turned around and held the door open for them.

The large group rushed inside, where Victor curiously glanced around at the cafe they were in. He saw light and dark brown tiled floor and saw wooden floors around the cafe's seating area. There were red chairs and square wooden tables, some purple carpet spaces for most likely pokemon to hang around, and the walls were painted in a tan brown color. 

Hop glanced around, a rather look confused on his face.

"Um... Are you sure we're in the right place?"

"Of course, I am. Why do you ask, Hop?" Kabu answered and asked him.

Hop scratched his chin, "Well... Lee told me all about the Battle Cafe, but what I'm seeing doesn't really match what he said..."

Kabu grinned with his eyes menacingly flashing. "Oh? So Leon _did_ tell you about that part of the Battle Cafe?"

"Eh?" Victor, Gloria, and Marnie uttered with question marks above their heads, while Hop just tilted his head.

"Oh! Are we gonna head there!?" Nessa asked in visible excitement.

Kabu was already heading to the front.

"Kabu! It's great to see you back here!" The male cashier in the front smiled. "What'll it be?"

"The usual Battle Combatant Meal!." Kabu declared in confidence.

The cashier raised an eyebrow as he glanced past Kabu and at the young Gym Challengers. "Are they with you?"

"Indeed! I'm here to share with them the true beauty of this place!" Kabu boomed.

"Easy! Easy Kabu! Remember, we don't want just _anyone_ learning about it!" The cashier nervously motioned to lower the volume.

"Ah, my bad." Kabu lowered his voice. "But I do want to take these young ones and introduce them to the experience."

Milo and Nessa came from behind with similar smiles as the older man. "We want these kids to have some fun!"

_"Why does this sound sketchier by the second?"_ The four Gym Challengers behind them deadpanned.

The cashier nodded, "Alright then. Please follow me." He stepped away from the counter as someone else came to take his place, then proceeding to lead the group to a door saying 'employees only.'

"Guys...? You wanna explain what's up?" Victor piped up.

"Oh, you'll see soon, Victor." Nessa grinned as she wrapped an arm around the boy's shoulder while pointing at the door being opened. "Once we go through there, you'll be brimming with even more excitement than at the Lake of Outrage!"

"Sounds promising." Victor admitted with a big smile.

Gloria once again had a dead gaze directed at Nessa's casual contact.

The group followed the cashier through a gray hallway, the teenagers looking both nervous and excited as they wondered where they were going.

They soon came upon double doors where a number pad was on the side. After a few quick inputs, the cashier grabbed the handles and glanced back at everyone with a smile.

"Enjoy yourselves."

Once he pushed open the doors, the challengers' eyes widened.

Inside was an enormous room full of many battle courts, several of them currently having Pokemon battles going on. At the end of the room were several tables set up with chefs cooking all sorts of meals.

"OOO!!! What's all this!?!" Hop shouted with sparkling eyes.

The three Gym Leaders turned their heads to the young ones.

"This here is the _true_ meat of the Battle Cafe. The public assumes that it's named this way to honor the Gym Challenge or pokemon battles as a whole, but _here_ is the real reason why!" Kabu proudly shouted.

"Do we battle for food!?" Victor asked in excitement.

"Your intuition is on point!" Milo laughed with a thumbs up. "Trainers can come in here and battle for meals!"

"How does that work?" Marnie uttered while her Morpeko's eyes sparkled from picking up the scent of meals in the back.

Nessa rose a finger as she explained, "Well, normally anyone could buy meals in the first part of the Battle Cafe, but it's _here_ where there's the good stuff."

_"Again, the wording just makes it sound suspicious."_ Victor deadpanned.

The model continued, "The meals here are all made by high-class chefs and are the absolute _best_ . However, it's not like they could make meals for everyone. Each one takes time and effort to do. _So_ long that they're starting to make it even now while so many people are battling."

She pointed at a board all the way on the side of the room.

"Over there is a menu of everything. Besides each item will contain many people who are interested in the same item. Only a limited number of people can actually get the item, so it's decided who gets them by having them battle one another like in a rank system."

"So whoever is at the top of the rankings for _any_ specific dish ends up getting it?" Gloria asked, her interest piqued.

"Not exactly. It's not like there's a leaderboard for each meal. There's an overall ranking board." Milo answered as he pointed at another board farther to the right of the menu. "Trainers can only order up to three things from the menu at a time each time per event. And the top trainers on the board are the ones that get the meals they want. But there is an additional feature, the top one ranking by the time lunch starts will-"

"-GET THE CHAMPION PARFAIT!!" Nessa suddenly cut him off with stars in her eyes. "Topped with whipped cream, a border of strawberries, pocky sticks, ice cream, and chocolate... beautiful chocolate!!"

Marnie and Gloria started to drool with sparkling eyes.

"Chocolate..."

_"Haha, you women and your chocolate."_ Hop chuckled.

"I'm guessing you want that the most, Nessa?" Victor chuckled.

"Of course! You can't get it anywhere else in Galar since it's a secret recipe!" Nessa boomed.

"Wait... but were you not just listing off the ingredients?" Victor sweatdropped.

"The way it's made is a trade secret! I heard that the ability of precision the chefs have are characteristics that trainers would love to implement in pokemon battles." Milo pointed out.

_"Wait, how would that even work?"_ Victor wondered as he looked down.

"U-Um... M-Milo?" Marnie spoke up nervously.

_"Cute."_ Everyone thought while brightly shining.

"What is it, lassie?" The large man chuckled.

"Y-You said something about being on the rankings by lunchtime, right?"

Milo's eyes widened in realization, "Ah, that's right! We gotta hurry! Lunch starts at 12:30, so we've only got a little less than an hour before the fighting ends! So some last bits of information! Your ranks go up and down depending if you win or lose and if who you're facing is a higher or lower rank than you! And those in the above-average rank must answer any challenger requesting a battle! You can heal your pokemon in the machine in the corner of the room, and you kids have to sign up at the desk by the menu before you start battling!"

"Anything else?" Hop asked, making sure they got everything.

"Um... Er, oh-right! Pokemon battles are always one vs one with no Dynamaxing! You can't even use Dynamax in here anyway." Milo added.

"Good luck! I'm gonna wash everyone away and claim my Champion's Parfait!" Nessa beamed with a carnivorous look.

"Sorry, Nessa, but it'll be _me_ who gets it!" Kabu beamed.

"Huh!?! Ya wanna go old man!?!" Nessa growled.

"To use my age as an insult shows just how immature you are! I'll burn you to a crisp!" Kabu snapped back.

"Well... They be getting into it." Gloria sweatdropped.

Milo awkwardly chuckled, "They get really serious whenever they're here together... But I'm just here to have fun battling."

_"Awwwww..."_ Victor couldn't help but feel his heart warm by how genuine and innocent that sounded from the baby-faced man.

"C'mon guys! Let's sign up quickly!" Hop tugged Victor and Gloria's hands.

"Mor! Mor!" Morpeko urged Marnie to hurry forward.

Victor grinned as they made their way to the registration.

_"I don't really know what I'll get here... but whoever I face, I'll make sure I win!"_

_________________________________________

**~{Meanwhile-Stow-On-Side Stadium}~**

Bea stood in the middle of the same dojo-like room she had been in the previous night, where she and her pokemon had used their last moments to train before facing Leon the next day. They trained for so long, using nearly every day to build themselves up and prepare for having another battle against the champion of the world.

But despite their efforts, they lost.

Bea had left immediately after her battle, arriving back in her personal room within her stadium. Around her was her official League Battle team, which she had used for her battle earlier that day.

Her Sirletch'd looked down in disappointment. Not at Bea, but at himself. Despite having trained with his trainer for so long, he had ended up losing to Leon's bladed pokemon, Aegislash.

Her Hawlucha, a bipedal pokemon with a mask-like face that resembled a wrestler, had his arms crossed with his back against the wall. He was looking down at the ground, also recalling when he had gotten knocked out.

Bea's Hitmontop, a brown and blue vaguely humanoid pokemon with a point on its head to spin on, was sitting on the ground with his head hanging too, not dancing around like normal.

A group of Falinks, a collection of six yellow, red, and black individuals usually in a straight line, sadly glanced around at their companions, feeling just how moody everyone was.

Then there was Bea's Grapploct. A blue and black octopus pokemon, who appeared to be the angriest among his peers. He was currently bashing a punching bag to vent his frustration of losing yet again to the champion.

And finally, there was her Machamp, the only female in the group besides the trainer herself. She seemed to feel the most devastated compared to the others, feeling as if she failed her trainer at the most crucial moment ever.

Bea herself was staring ahead at the window, hands balled into fists while shadows obscured her eyes, clearly thinking of only one thing, her recent loss.

"We have to get stronger... We were so close there... If we were only a little stronger, then we would've won right there..."

Her Grapploct stopped letting loose on the punching bag and glanced his head back to his trainer, narrowing his eyes as he listened.

Bea raised her fist in front of her with an intense-looking glare.

"We have to go even further beyond..."

She glanced around at her pokemon, whose eyes were focused on her.

"We're going to the Wild Area to train... We'll make sure next time... next time we'll win!"

Some of her pokemon nodded, while others looked more worried. Training was all they were ever doing these days, and day by day, Bea had been getting visibly stressed all the way up to her battle with Leon. And now that she actually lost...

There's no telling just how far she'd this time in the outdoors.

*Knock!* *Knock!* *Knock!*

Everyone's eyes turned to the door, to which Bea lowered her fist as her expression returned to her normal emotionless gaze.

"You may enter."

The door slowly opened up, where a familiar boy wearing a mask peered in.

"H-Hi Bea..."

"Fa!/Fa!/Fa!/Fa!/Fa!/Fa!" All six individual Falinks happily ran together in a straight line to the newly arrived Allister.

"Hey there, little guys..." You could detect a hint of happiness in his voice as he crouched down and gently patted each individual Falinks. The rest of Bea's pokemon formed small smiles, as they liked the boy just as much as the Falinks did.

"Allister..." Bea muttered as she fully turned her body to face him. "What are you doing here?"

The young boy could pick up the frustration from her voice and could see it not just from her but from all of the pokemon in the room.

"I... Well..." He looked down, "I-I wanted to say that your battle with Leon was amazing... You really tried your best..."

Bea couldn't help but frown a little, thinking of the outcome of her battle.

"A-And... You said that after your battle, m-maybe we could do something, right?"

"..."

Bea was silent for nearly a good minute, staring down at the small boy. She remembered thinking of the possibility, to maybe go out and keep Allister company, but after her most recent loss... that changes things.

"Sorry, Allister, but... there are things I have to do." Bea responded as she lowered her head.

The Falinks next to Allister all had their eyes drop in sadness.

Normally, right here would've been when Allister would just accept what Bea said and leave in disappointment, but at this point, even he could tell that things were just getting worse.

"Do... Do you mean more training?"

The fighting prodigy nodded. "Yes... I have to make sure I beat Leon the next time I fight him."

"B-But Bea! All you've been doing is training!" Allister rose his timid voice a small bit, even taking a step forward. "Y-You tried your best and nearly beat Leon! You don't have to go back to training already!"

Bea's pokemon couldn't help but stare sympathetically at the boy, as they understood that he might feel lonely. Bea was the only close friend he really had, after all.

"Allister... You don't understand. I was so close... Right there was when I was supposed to beat Leon... But I wasn't able to, I wasn't strong enough..."

"You're plenty strong, Bea! But I don't think you lost because you weren't strong enough! I-I just... D-Don't you think you're focusing on winning a little _too_ much?"

Bea narrowed her eyes as she rose her head to stare at him, "I lost _because_ I wasn't focused enough on my goal, to beat Leon right there. I know you're a good trainer, Allister, so I'm sure you must've noticed it too. The moment I relaxed, Leon's Charizard took my victory away... It wouldn't have happened if I was stronger as a trainer."

"B-Bea..." Alister nervously approached the girl and looked up at her. "W-We all make mistakes, m-mom always told me that. A-And just b-because you made one doesn't mean you're weak! Y-You should just take a day to relax, to clear your head..."

Bea just shook her head, "No, Allister... As of now, I'm going back to the Wild Area to continue training."

Allister saw through Bea's eyes that her decision was final, so no matter what the boy would say, there would be no changing her mind.

"Wh-Why...?" His voice squeaked.

He took a step back, with Bea's pokemon looking a little concerned now.

"A-At least take a day... _One_ day... s-so we can go somewhere together..."

Bea sighed, "Allister..."

"W-We never do anything anymore... All you ever do is train! E-Even my mom and dad are worried!" Allister rose his tiny voice.

"Allister-!"

"Why can't we just be like back then!? You were always smiling before! Why can't you give more time for things other than training!? If you keep doing this, then you'll just keep losing-!"

This seemed to hit a nerve.

"ALLISTER!"

Bea's outcry shocked everyone else in the room, including a now frightened Allister, who instinctively took several steps back while trembling as he saw the look on the fighter's face.

The fighting-type Gym Leader was glaring at him. 

"Stop it, alright!? I can't waste my time anymore like before! I have to focus on what's important! For what I was forged for!" 

She moved a fist close to her chest. 

"I have to prove to everyone that _I'm_ the strongest warrior! I have to _be_ the strongest! So just forget it, Allister!"

Bea's pokemon stared at their trainer in disbelief that she actually yelled, while Allister became completely frozen as he stared at the angry look Bea was giving him. He listened to the words she was saying. He repeated them in his head several times, now feeling... shattered.

_*Sniff*_

The moment Bea heard that sniffle, her glare was wiped clean, her eyes widened, and her expression matched her pokemons' now forming looks of both shock and horror.

She took a step forward, "Allister?"

The ghost-type user looked down at the ground, taking a step back from Bea when she moved forward.

"I-I-I..." Allister pulled his hands into his baggy sleeves as his voice started cracking. "I'm sorry, Bea... I-I just... _*sniff*_ I'm sorry..."

He took another step back.

"I... I won't get in your way a-anymore... I-I... _*sniff*_ I'll..."

Allister almost looked like he would fall over at any minute.

"I-I'll let you focus on... wh-what's more important..."

Bea took another step forward, reaching her hand out. "Allister, I didn't mean it like that..."

"Y-You won't see me again..."

Bea froze as she processed those words, "Huh? Allister-?"

She took a step forward and reached out closer, but the boy spun around and bolted to the door.

"Allister! Wait!"

"Hawl!" Bea's Hawlucha reacted leaped towards the door to stop Allister from leaving, but at the same time, Allister's shadow formed two red eyes full of fury.

"Gengar!" From Allister's shadow emerged his closest pokemon, his Gengar. It's roundish, dark purple pokemon, one who looked rather angry at the moment as he opened his mouth.

"Gen-!" A dark purple Shadow Ball formed, which was then blasted from his mouth. "-gar!"

"Hawl-!?" The attack collided with the flying type and an explosion of dust spread in the room, with Hawlucha being sent flying into Machamp's arms.

"Machamp!?" The four-armed pokemon held him in worry.

"Hawl..." Hawlucha grumbled as he rubbed his head, feeling dizzy after that surprise attack. He didn't expect that one of Allister's pokemon, whom they were considered close friends with, would actually blast him out of nowhere.

Bea had covered her eyes with her arm due to the dust kicking up, but peeked forward the first moment she could, only to see the door open with Allister nor his Gengar there.

"Allister!" Bea ran out the door and turned right to see the boy riding on top of his Gengar, the ghost pokemon floating above the ground as he zoomed towards the end of the hall.

"Gengar!" The ghost-type fired another Shadow Ball and blasted away an opening into the wall, which he and Allister then used to fly out.

Bea ran down the hall until she made it to the opening created, then stopping as she stared outside at Gengar moving quickly away.

"..." She let out a sigh and looked down as the rest of her pokemon arrived.

"Grap?" Her Gropploct appeared beside Bea and narrowed his eyes, one of his tentacles pointing out towards the Gengar at a distance.

Bea shook her head, neutral expression returning to her face. "No... He'll get over it soon enough... For now, we have to get going. We need all the time we can get to train for the next World League coming up."

She turned around and started walking, but surprisingly, her Machamp stepped into her path.

"Ma! Machamp!" The female pokemon used two of her upper arms to point at the hole.

Bea just frowned, "He'll. Be. Fine. He's a kid. They all don't accept the way things are. I was like that before I straightened up, so let's go."

Machamp remained still for a moment, but once again saw the same eyes Bea had when she told Allister her decision to go back to the Wild Area. 

She looked down and reluctantly stepped aside, so her trainer walked past, the rest of Bea's pokemon all having mixed negative expressions of worry or contemplation.

_"I'll talk to him when I get back..."_ Was her final thought.

At the same time, Allister had his body sprawled out on his Gengar as he traveled atop him by Stow-On-Side's buildings, still sniffling with a hand reached under his mask.

"Gengar... _*sniff*_ Y-You shouldn't have hit Bea's Hawlucha like that... He wasn't going to hurt me..."

Gengar's eyes and mouth dropped into a sad look as he continued floating from building to building. "Gengar?"

"And... *sniff* y-you shouldn't have destroyed that wall... W-We're gonna get in trouble for that..."

Gengar looked more guilty as they stopped on top of a certain small house, where he then sat down with his trainer still atop him.

"Hm...?" Allistered looked down at the roof below him, recognizing the area. "We're... home?" 

"Gengar." The Shadow Pokemon nodded, still looking sad.

"..."

Allister rose himself and comfortably sat atop of his Gengar, looking down while staring at his hands.

"Mom and Dad are on another trip... So they'll be gone for... another month. And they think Bea is going to look after me, but she'll be gone too..."

Gengar felt Allister shift as he let out a sigh.

"So..."

Allister hugged his legs and placed his head in them.

"We're all alone..."

"Gen..." Gengar said, gloomily.

There was a moment of silence between them before Allister raised his head and looked up at the sky.

"We... don't have to stay... do we?"

"Gengar?" The ghost-type was confused about what he implied, but his eyes glanced up.

"We're... usually alone anyway... Mom and Dad leave, then Bea calls one of her staff to watch me while she keeps training... And then we just end up stay cooped up in my room... Or even scare them off sometimes..."

Gengar listened to his trainer, wondering where he was going with this.

"I... I didn't tell Bea that I was left by mom and dad yet, so..."

He glanced down at his pokemon.

"Should we... just go away?"

"Gengar?" Gengar blinked in confusion.

"It feels like... no one wants us anyway... No one cares if we're around... So... I don't think anyone would notice if we were gone..."

Gengar's eyes dropped.

Allister started fiddling with his fingers, thinking about where to go.

"We... could go to the Wild Area? We have plenty of friends in the cemetery..."

A big grin formed on Gengar's face.

"Gar!"

________________________________

**~{Battle Cafe-12:21PM}~**

"Well then..." Victor stared across at who would be his final opponent before lunchtime would hit.

"Um... Hi." Gloria awkwardly stood across from him on the small battle court while others battled in the background.

Both teens held a Pokeball in their hands.

"I guess you're my last battle then?" Victor smiled. "Come to think of it, this is gonna be the first time I battle you alone, right?"

"Yeah..." Gloria had a stern look on her face, "Even if we're both only using one pokemon..."

"Well, should we get to it then?" Victor had the same look he always had before a pokemon battle, the look of confidence, determination, just giving off a blazing aura that told everyone around him that he knows he'd win.

Gloria had her own dangerous expression in the form of a glare, her own aura bursting into a rather hostile intensity, telling everyone around her that she's gonna beat them down.

_"Oh, wow, her game face has gotten a lot more intense."_ Victor grinned.

Both then tossed their pokeballs.

"Come on, Ace!"

"Knock 'em out, Bubbles!"

Both pokemon came out at the same time. Victor's Raboot and Gloria's Drizzile landed on the ground and intensely stared across at each other.

"You ready, Gloria!?"

"Ta win? Hell yeah!"

Gloria pointed forward.

"Sucker Punch!"

The moment Victor heard that move, he shouted, "Jump!" just as Bubbles vanished.

Ace immediately leaped up as Bubbles appeared and tried to punch him at blazing speeds, only to miss her target.

"Drizz!?!" Bubbles turned around in shock that Ace avoided her.

"We already fell for that move before! Not this time!" Victor laughed as Ace landed back on the ground.

Gloria frowned, "Bubbles, Water Pulse!"

"Bleeeee!!" Bubbles opened her mouth and fired a pulsing blast of water towards Ace.

"Agility!" Ace had landed and charged up, his body visibly vibrating before he vanished.

"Toss water balloons and cover the ground!" Gloria reacted.

Bubbles narrowed her eyes before her palms used the moisture secreting in them to form balls of water.

"Drriiii!!" She then rapidly spun in place while sending these water bags all over the place.

Ace was running quick enough to avoid the several projectiles heading at him, only to find himself slipping on all the watery puddles created in the process.

"Raboot!?" He tumbled onto the ground and got covered in water before coming to a stop, his fur damp and dripping as he slid on the ground.

"Ace, you alright!?"

Gloria didn't even let Ace answer his trainer, already going on the offensive.

"Water Pulse again!"

Bubbles stopped her spinning and once again opened her mouth, aiming at Ace.

"Bleeeeeh!!"

"Protect!" 

Ace turned to the oncoming attack and rose his arms, forming a transparent barrier in front of him.

The blast of water connected to the barrier and simply pushed Ace back a few inches due to the slippery floor.

Which gave Victor an idea.

"Now Quick Attack on the water!" Victor grinned.

Ace peaked back at his trainer as the force of Bubble's beam started dying down, knowing already understanding what he meant.

"Raboot!"

The moment Ace let down his barrier, he started glowing white before suddenly blazing at unviewable speeds. With the increased speed from Agility earlier and Quick Attack, he _slid_ using the water on the ground and instantly arrived right in front of Bubbles.

"Dri-!?!"

"Double Kick!"

"Ra-!" Ace used his momentum from sliding to spin while swinging his foot.

"-boot!" He nailed Bubbles right on her face with the first kick but then moved like a blur as he immediately jumped, spun, and swung his other leg again to kick her upwards this time.

"Bubbles!" Gloria shouted as she saw her pokemon sent flying backward.

The Water Lizard pokemon actually flipped herself in the air and landed on her feet, feeling her face with an eye closed in pain.

"Are ya alright!?" Gloria shouted.

The water-type nodded.

"Ace, get in close with Quick Attack again!" Victor pointed.

"Raboot!" Once more, Ace blasted forward and used the water to slide across, sending water splitting by how fast he moved.

"Sucker Punch!"

"Drizz!" Bubbles vanished from the spot.

Victor grinned.

"Protect now!"

In the middle of sliding, Ace crossed his arms, and a transparent barrier formed. Bubbles appeared and had been swinging her arm to clothesline Ace as he passed, but instead...

"Drizz-!"

Her punch had simply bounced off the barrier, with Ace pressing forward and ramming into Bubbles said barrier.

Ace had basically turned into a battering ram, pushing against Bubbles before skidding to a halt, the force sending the water-type flying backward all the way to Gloria.

"Gah!" The girl actually opened her arms and caught her pokemon as she slammed into her. Despite the force of the impact, Gloria remained on her feet.

"Ah! Gloria, you alright!?!" Victor shouted, running over to her and forgetting the battle while Ace shook the water off him.

Gloria was slightly hunched over with pain in her stomach, then falling to her butt on the ground.

"Ugh..." Despite the pain, she managed to look down at Bubbles and see swirls in her eyes, a sign that she fainted.

Victor got in front of Gloria and crouched down to her, staring at her.

"Hey, you okay?"

Gloria looked up, and much to Victor's surprise, she simply had a pout on her face.

"I lost..."

Victor blinked before looking down at the unconscious Drizzile, realizing she was out for the count.

"Oh... I was too worried about you to notice."

A referee watching the battle raised his hand.

"Gloria's Drizzile is unable to battle. Therefore, Victor wins! The scoreboards will now be updated!"

Victor just kept his attention to Gloria and her pout.

"Erm... Sorry about hurting you."

The girl just stood up, still pouting, and returned Bubbles to her Pokeball.

"I ain't really mad about that... I'm mad cause I lost..."

Victor blinked at her declaration, then giving her a small smile.

"Heh, I would say I'm sorry for beating you, but... I'm really not."

Gloria's cheeks puffed even more as she lightly punched him.

"Meanie..."

"Hey, guys!"

"KYAH!" Compared to the playful punch Gloria did to Victor, the sudden voice behind her caught her off guard, causing the girl to turn around while her hand cocked into a fist.

A comedic bell sound from a boxing ring played as if a meter of hers had been fully charge, to which the girl then swung her fist with all her power.

"DORYA!!" She performed a powerful K.O uppercut right underneath someone's chin, her punch echoing in the room as Victor's eyes widened to see Hop with a black and red lightning deadly blow effect around him.

Before the boy got launched straight up.

"GAH!!" Hop spiraled several times in the air, catching everyone's attention to stop what they were doing and gaze up in shock.

Victor had a blank face as he watched Hop crash down into the ground and kick up clouds of dust.

He then turned his head to his other friend, maintaining his expression to the girl. 

"Um... Gloria?"

The girl panted with a small blush of embarrassment, "I-I didn't mean ta hit him that hard! He just scared the _shite_ out of me!"

Another bell rang, this time, to signal the time reaching 12:30.

"Alright! Time is up, folks!" An old, leading chef among everyone smiled with a clap of his hands. "The official results will be declared in a moment, so heal your pokemon, heal that poor boy, and then we'll eat!"

_"He mentioned Hop so casually..."_ Victor deadpanned.

Everyone started to gather around each other, to which Victor and Gloria used the chance to help bring a dizzy Hop to his feet.

"You alright, Hop?" Victor asked him.

"Ugh... I felt like I was struck by a truck, so... nothing new." Hop awkwardly chuckled.

"Sorry..." Gloria grumbled beside him.

"Whoa, Hop, you okay? You were sent flying!" Milo said as he came upon the group with Nessa and Kabu beside him.

Hop just waved it off with a smile as Victor and Gloria let go of him, making sure he could support himself. "Don't worry, I'm used to this." He playfully laughed.

All three Gym Leaders turned to Gloria with blank expressions.

The girl flinched at their gazes, "I-I mean-! Well-! He-! Um-!"

" _Anyway_ -!" Hop said, getting everyone's attention before turning to Victor and Gloria. "I saw you guys battle each other! I didn't think Victor would have Ace slide on the water left from Bubbles! That was neat!"

Gloria managed to calm down her panic, but her mood dropped to a pout yet again, "Yeah... It sucks that I lost..."

"As long as you had fun, then you should be happy about it!" Milo smiled.

"Mor! Mor!"

They turned to see Marnie approach the group with her Morpeko cheerfully walking beside her.

"Hi..." The girl mumbled.

"Marnie! How'd you do?" Victor smiled to see her.

"Well..." The girl turned her head and looked back at where she came from.

The rest of the group followed her gaze to see several people with depressed auras in the corner of the room. 

"I... think I did good?"

_"I think you just ended their careers..."_ The group sweatdropped when they saw how devasted the people in the corner of the room were.

"Attention everyone, thank you for coming to partake in our daily battle challenge! I'm sure you're all hungry, so let's not waste any more time and show the rankings! Just keep in mind that even if you don't win the meals you desire, there will at least be complimentary meals to make up for your time, at least. Although they aren't as exquisite as the top rewards, they're still quite a delicacy!" The chef in the front called everyone.

_"Oh, they didn't mention that."_ Victor thought.

The chef then clapped his hands, and a green-camera Rotom came flying down in front of everyone, then projecting a scoreboard.

Victor expected what he saw. His group of friends were, of course, the highest among everyone, which made sense in his eyes. But what _did_ surprise him, though, was the person at the very top of the list.

"Marnie?"

"M-Me?" The girl uttered in genuine surprise as her eyes remained glued to the scoreboard.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" Nessa shouted with a look of comedic horror to noot be on top.

"Ha! Better luck next time, Nessa!" Kabu laughed.

"Whoa! Marnie made it to the top. How'd you do it!?" Hop asked with sparkles around him.

"Um... I don't really..."

"Did you do the quick knockout trick with your Croagunk?" Victor asked, already having an idea about how the girl racked up so many wins so fast.

"Knockout trick? Ah! I remember! That little combo you used to take out my Gossifleur right off the bat? It was quite impressive." Milo chuckled as he recalled his battle with Marnie in his gym.

"I-I mean..." Marnie looked down with a small blush. "Yeah..."

_"Knockout trick? I'll have to be careful if I ever fight Marnie..."_ Gloria thought with a curious expression.

"We seem to have several new people here! In the top rank, out of everyone, is Marnie!" The chef yelled, giving her applause.

Both Gloria and Nessa fell to the ground on their hands and knees, sulking.

_"The parfait..."_

______________________________________

**~{A Few Minutes Later}~**

Marnie's eyes sparkled, and the horned-tufts of her hair fluttered repeatedly. She stared at the large parfait in front of her, captivated by its size and colorful presence.

The rest of her friends sat at the same table as her, plates full of food.

"Mmph! Mm! Thmph ismp mmmp!" Hop mumbled as he shoved his mouth with food.

"Whoa there, slow down there, Hop!" Milo laughed in the seat next to the boy.

"No one is going to take your food, young challenger." Kabu grinned from across.

Victor took a bit of perfectly seasoned beef on his plate, smiling in bliss, _"I guess right now we're having 'brunch,' but with food this good, it doesn't even matter."_

He turned to his right and saw Marnie taking small spoonfuls of her parfait with brimming happiness, her Morpeko also digging into her own small bowl provided for her.

At the same time, Nessa and Gloria both ate their meals with depressed auras surrounding them, keeping dead gaze while chewing slowly.

_"They really wanted that parfait..."_ Victor awkwardly chuckled.

Marnie seemed to notice the two's state of depression as well, pausing her eating and looking somewhat guilty.

"U-Um... hey." She called to them.

Gloria and Nessa slightly rose their heads with blank gazes.

"Th-This m-might be a little too much for me s-so..."

Marnie slightly pushed the parfait to them.

"I-If you don't mind... sharing together..."

Gloria and Nessa's aura changed from black to pink as flowers mysteriously started forming around them. To which both started comedically crying.

_"Awwww."_ Victor thought with a look of adoration.

Hop swallowed his food, "So what are we doing after this? I doubt we're just gonna stop after eating!"

"Ah! If you children are interested in buying new items, then let's check out all of Motostoke's shops!" Kabu grinned. "I'll lead you to the best ones!"

"Ooo! Shopping!" Nessa gleamed as her spoon was dug within Marnie's parfait.

"Thank you, Marnie..." Gloria comedically cried as she also took a spoonful of Marnie's parfait and ate it with a look of bliss.

Victor smiled as he glanced around at everyone around him.

_"This is gonna be fun."_

_________________________________________

**~{Motostoke Boutique Shop}~**

The group was now in Motostoke's Boutique Shop, a store filled to the brim with all clothing sorts. Everyone but Milo was just outside of a dressing booth, the group waiting for the farmer Gym Leader to come out.

And when he did, he looked rather eye-catching.

"Um... It's a bit tight." Milo awkwardly chuckled as he came out of the dressing booth wearing a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath. In addition, he had on black loafers, his hair was combed back, and he had a green tie on. However, due to his rather large muscles, his suit looked as if it would explode at any moment. 

"Wow! You look great!" Victor beamed with bright eyes, taking several pictures at different angles with his Rotom phone. "We got a man who can do both!"

"What?" Milo had a question mark over his head as he wondered what Victor meant.

Kabu had a hand on his chin and was nodding with a smile, "Agreed. To be able to pull off the look of a hardworking farmer and also a high-class businessman with an innocent babyface, it's impressive."

"I need to figure out how to get muscles that big." Hop thought in awe as he could see Milo's guns practically bulge out from his clothes.

_"I wonder how Victor would look with muscles that big?"_ Gloria drooled.

Marnie was covering her eyes with a red face, for some reason feeling flustered from how the clothes looked on Milo.

"Looking good, Milo!" Nessa clapped. "But I think you should change out of that before you end up tearing it!" She laughed.

"While he does that, let's move on to someone else! So who's next?" Kabu grinned.

"Oo! I actually have an idea!" Nessa beamed.

The female Gym Leader suddenly grabbed Marnie and Gloria by their hands. "Come on, you two!"

"EH!?!" Marnie and Gloria were shocked as they were dragged into the dressing booth.

Victor had a question mark on his head.

_"Huh? Both of them?"_

Milo chuckled as he walked back into his own dressing booth, "I should change quickly. I get the feeling I won't want to miss this."

The three boys left behind waited patiently while hearing some things from within the booth the three females were in.

"Wait... You want us to WHAT!?" They heard Gloria shout.

"Shhh! Don't be so loud!" Nessa shushed her.

"D-D-Does hers even fit me?" Marnie stammered.

Victor got more curious by the minute as they waited, with Milo joining him and the others as he came back out with his normal clothes on.

Soon, Nessa poked her head out from the curtain with a big grin.

"You boys ready?"

"Yeah!" Victor didn't hesitate.

Nessa's grin grew bigger.

"Then feast your eyes!"

The Gym Leader pulled the curtain open, and it was as if she just let the sun in. It was a simple change, there weren't even any new clothes from the store, but the sight was still shocking. 

The gray hoodie, magenta button-up dress, green socks, and brown boots from Gloria were now on Marnie instead. In addition, the black gothic jacket, pink mini-skirt, and black boots with spiked heels from Marnie were on the opposite girl. Even Marnie's black choker and Gloria's green beanie were swapped, with Marnie's tufts of hair undone while Gloria's hair was tied into two-horned tufts to resemble how Marnie did them.

Kabu actually let out a booming laugh, "I did _not_ expect this!"

"That's so adorable." Milo preciously smiled, a hand holding his cheek.

"Wow, it's so weird how it suits you guys." Hop remarked with a hand on his chin, deep in thought as he stared at the two.

"Right!? I knew they'd fit perfectly into each other when I saw them side-by-side!" Nessa happily beamed behind both girls.

Marnie and Gloria were equally red as Magikarps. Both stared down at the ground and held their different skirts in embarrassment, completely regretting going along with Nessa but emitting off bright sparkles.

_"Her dress feels so light!"_ Gloria thought as she examined the clothing on her. _"But her jacket feels rough!"_

_"H-Her clothes feel so warm..."_ Marnie thought at the same time, feeling heat mainly due to Gloria's green bonnet.

Both girls awkwardly glanced at each other, feeling their embarrassment growing and in clear disbelief at the fact their attires perfectly fit each other.

_"Oh, no..._ _They're too cute!"_ Victor closed his eyes and clutched his heart, even leaning over a bit with his head down. _"Must... suppress... the Hnnnggg!!!"_

Gloria's eyes then slowly came upon the first person she wanted to ask about her clothing. 

"H-H-Hey Victor...? H-How... do I look?" 

Victor opened an eye and peaked at both Gloria and Marnie, both girls staring at him with both embarrassed yet hopeful eyes. As neither wanted to feel like idiots for wearing the other's clothing.

He closed his eye again and took a deep breath.

He released it.

Then once again, he breathed in.

And then...

"HHHHHHHHNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!" 

"Ah!? What's wrong!?!" Gloria uttered to hear this from him.

"You both look, _TOO,_ cute!" He groaned as if there was actual pain coming from his heart.

Both Marnie and Gloria's heads poofed and turned red all the way to their necks. 

_"Cute... He thinks I'm cute!"_ Gloria suddenly had a big, goofy smile on her face as she looked down and held her cheeks. "Heh, heh, heh..."

_"She sounds so creepy, pfft!"_ Hop muffled a laugh as he heard Gloria happily breathe harder.

On the other hand, Marnie covered her face with both of her hands after being called cute, flustered once again.

_"Again... He called me cute again... And he says it so calmly too... I-Is he just being nice? O-Or is he saying he l-l-l-!"_

"You're both _so_ adorable!" Nessa squealed as she wrapped her arms around both girls' shoulders, hugging them close.

"Mor! Mor!" Marnie's Morpeko was on the ground next to her trainer, looking up with a big smile.

_"Aw, even Morpeko thinks Marnie looks amazing."_ Victor heard.

Milo then patted Victor's shoulder, "You wear something next. I'm sure that'd make these lassies happy." 

"OO! I have the _perfect_ thing!" Nessa grinned, suddenly pulling a blue bag out of nowhere. "I bought something for him just a few moments before we started trying things!"

"Wait, you bought something for me? But you didn't even check with me with anything!" Victor exclaimed in surprise.

"It'll fit, trust me! And I think it'll look great on you!! Go on, try it!" Nessa dumped the bag into his hands and pushed him into a booth, closing it and stepping back to wait.

"You seem oddly excited about this." Kabu smiled.

"I bought something I thought matches his character." Nessa beamed.

Hop looked up with a hand on his chin, "Hm, so a nice, selfless, and confident lad that helps others no matter what?"

"You know it!" Nessa laughed as she pointed finger guns at him.

Marnie and Gloria, still awkwardly in each other's clothes, couldn't help but feel incredibly curious as to what she meant.

Victor peaked his head from the curtain with an unsure look.

"Erm... Could one of you help me?"

Gloria had nearly bolted forward if Kabu hadn't raised an eyebrow and walked first.

"I could help." He stepped through the crack of the curtain before fully closing it. "Oh? So _this_ was what she meant? Haha! Now I completely understand! Here, they go on like this."

Everyone else became even more curious.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait, as a few moments later, the curtain was yanked open with Kabu's voice booming.

"Presenting the outstanding Victor!"

Victor stepped out, looking more brighter than ever.

He had on black dress pants, a six-buttoned double-breasted tailcoat, a white dress shirt, and even a dark blue vest on it. In addition, he had on black dress shoes, white gloves, a black tie, and one of his biggest smiles ever.

He had both the matching outfit and aura of a butler.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen." Victor held an arm across his chest with his back straight, then politely bowing down with his eyes closed.

"Wha-Wha-Wha-!?" Gloria stared at Victor with her eyes engrossed to him, and her mouth wide open.

Hop let out a long, impressed whistle.

_"He looks even better than I thought he would! Playing dress-up is so much fun!"_ Nessa squealed as she stared at the boy.

Marnie blinked several times with a blush as she gazed at Victor, dumbfounded by his appearance.

"What a wonderful day we're having, aren't we?" Victor's voice had suddenly changed from the usual excited and confident tone he had, to a calm and respectful voice full of even more sincerity than normal. "To be in the presence as such wonderful and beautiful saints such as yourselves, I truly am blessed. I am at your service for whatever you desire..."

His gaze came upon the three females, giving them a white smile and a sparkling wink.

"Ma lady."

An arrow pierced through each of the three females there, their hearts stopping for a moment as comedic lightning struck behind them.

"BLUUGH!" Gloria suffered the worst blow as she jerked her head back, with blood suddenly gushing out of her nose.

"AH! Gloria!?!" Victor completely broke character and stared in comedic horror at his friend laid in a puddle of her own blood.

Hop muffled his mouth and dropped to the ground before being unable to keep himself composed, resulting in him bursting out in laughter while pointing at them.

Marnie grabbed her Morpeko from the ground and used her to cover her face, breathing in and out hard to calm herself, much to her pokemon's shock.

"Mor!? Mor!?"

Nessa found herself sweating nervously as she wiped her forehead.

_"You know what? H-He might be a little too dangerous in that..."_

Milo and Kabu grinned as they took pictures.

_____________________________________

**~{Motostoke Exercise Gym}~**

"I can't believe you actually have a tennis court in the city!" Hop grinned as he held up a green tennis racket. The boy was currently wearing his gym uniform again, using the outfit as exercise clothes while standing in the blue indoor court.

Beside him was Kabu holding an orange racket, wearing the same usual gym outfit he always wore.

"Indeed, Motostoke's exercising gym is one of the only ones in Galar, made under my request. Not only is there the standard equipment like weight lifting, treadmills, and such, but there are even courts to play different sports like soccer, basketball, and this here tennis!"

"Geez, I ain't heard any sports mentioned for a long time." Gloria said in wonder, wearing her own white uniform on the other side of the net and holding a blue racket.

"Yeah, people don't really talk about human sports anymore... It's always about pokemon." Nessa said next to the Scottish girl. Surprisingly, she had changed out of her normal gym uniform and now had on a tennis uniform consisting of a white polo shirt and a blue skort with white stripes. 

Yes, not skirt, _skort._

In addition, she had on white tennis shoes and a blue athlete cap with her hair tied into a ponytail going through the back of it. She held up her own blue tennis racket and got a good feel of it in her hands, even swinging it around a bit.

In his usual attire, Milo was sitting in the tall judge's chair with a water bottle beside him while looking over the court. "Yeah, human sports used to be much more popular in the past."

"Indeed..." Kabu sighed, looking visibly disappointed as he glanced down at his racket.

"Why did they out?" 

Victor asked this as he and Marnie stared at everyone behind the tennis court fence, both in their gym uniforms.

Kabu glanced over at Victor outside the court.

"Well, as time went on, everyone wanted to choose to be trainers. It's the most profitable and fame inducing job anyone in the world can get. After all, pokemon battling is the most-watched sport globally, and below that are sports that still involve pokemon like Extreme Pokemon Racing or Mantine surfing. And even normal human sports like baseball are played with pokemon in them."

"So... It's like the _entire_ world just revolves around keeping pokemon?" Marnie questioned, her Morpeko sleeping away in her arms.

"No... I think he means that the whole world functions on _working_ with pokemon." Victor mumbled.

"And with Leon's popularity through being undefeated for _ten_ years since winning the world league, it's all everyone raves about these days. They either want to watch him battle or attempt to take him on through the league. Human sports just aren't that popular anymore." Kabu finished.

"Do you like them, Kabu?" Hop asked curiously.

"Indeed, I do! To test the human body to the limit, to show that humans could be capable of doing amazing things themselves without relying on pokemon! Whenever I exercise, I bring some of my gym staff with me to compete in sports!" The elder proudly shouted with fire in his eyes.

Victor smiled from the side. "Maybe you should try getting human sports trending again? You're a famous Gym Leader of Galar, so I'm sure you'll have many fans that'll try and compete with you if they're trying to take after you! You should make a competition and even compete in it! Then it could spread from there!"

Kabu formed a small smile, but his eyes dropped, "I can't be starting a career in sports right now. I'm afraid I may be too old for that."

"You can never be too old for something if you're actually able to do it just fine! In fact, I can prove it now!" Victor declared.

Kabu raised an eyebrow, "Oh? Enlighten me."

"Just do what you guys were gonna do! Play a match!" Victor grinned with a fist up.

Kabu and Hop glanced at Gloria and Nessa on the opposite side of the net, the model grinning while the teen gazed at her racket.

"Gloria, if you win! Then you can make any request for me!" Victor shouted.

The girl's eyes flashed red, and a powerful yellow aura suddenly burst from her, her hold on her packet turning into a death grip.

"EEP!" Nessa recoiled back with frightened eyes.

Kabu was taken aback as he felt an overwhelming amount of pressure coming from the Scottish girl, firmly holding his ground with a serious look expression.

"Victor, are you bloody crazy!?! Don't you remember the last time you told her something like that!? She sent _four_ people to the hospital!" Hop shouted to him.

"I still never understood what happened since I was at home while you guys went to that competition! All I asked her was to get me that Charizard plushie!" Victor shouted over to him.

"It was the _top_ prize for that competition! Gloria tore through everyone just to get it! You weren't there, man! You didn't see the things I've seen!" Hop said as he then started hugging himself with a dead gaze.

_"Why does it sound like he survived a war?"_ Milo sweatdropped from his seat, actually holding onto his hat so it wouldn't get blown away from the gusts created by Gloria's pressure.

"Well, if Gloria gets super serious, then great! Let's push Kabu to the limit and show him what he's capable of!" Victor laughed.

"A-Are ya sure they'll be alright?" Marnie stammered.

"Don't know!" Victor said innocently.

"I see... So you intend to have me fight skin and bone? So be it! I'll extinguish that girl's burning flames with my own!" Kabu shouted with a raise of his racket.

"Nessa... Ya'd better try ya _damn_ best." Gloria's words were full of a threatening venom as she turned her menacingly glowing eyes to the model.

"I-I will, alright!?" The model stuttered.

"Alright then, game start!" Milo clapped.

Hop was the one holding the tennis ball, stepping to the back of the court despite looking nervous.

"I've got a bad feeling about this... But when I play, I play to win!"

He then tossed the ball up and swung it hard with his racket.

"Hi-yah!"

The moment Hop had sent the ball flying over the net, Gloria swung her tennis racket almost like a bat.

"ORA!!"

The moment her racket hit the ball, a powerful shockwave echoed around the court before the green sphere was launched back, surrounded by fire. It blasted downward at the ground, bounced off, and then crashed into the wall behind Hop and Kabu, both males turning black and white with shocked expressions.

"Glad I'm not her opponent." Nessa giggled as she rested her racket on her shoulder.

________________________________________

**~{About Thirty Minutes Later}~**

"ORA!"

"Yah!"

"Nope!"

"Ka-chow!"

_"Ka-chow?"_ Victor repeated with a blank expression.

Marnie and Victor both stared at the dangerous sight of a flaming tennis ball zooming back and forth so fast that the court looked like a war zone with bullets flying all over the place. All four players on the court moved as blurs in desperation to not let the ball get passed them.

"I... didn't expect it to be this intense." Victor muttered.

Marnie nervously shivered in fear as she caught glimpses of Gloria bashing the ball with a dangerous aura around her.

"I-I don't think I'd wanna join that..."

"Matchpoint!" Milo raised a hand when the ball bounced on the girl's side a second time.

Both sides stopped for a moment to catch their breaths. All four of them had sweat soaking into their clothes, their movements were getting clumsy, and you could hear how tired and frustrated everyone was by how hard they were breathing. Nessa's ponytail had become undone, leaving a tangled mess in her hair, Gloria had tired eyes that still expressed fury, Hop was panting hard but didn't show signs of backing down, and Kabu was grinning excitedly at the last stretch of the battle.

"I... *huff* *puff* didn't think I'd be able to keep up. I guess these old bones of mine are still as fit as a Machamp!" The elder laughed.

"I'll be damned if I lose 'ere." Gloria growled.

"It's *huff* been a while since I've done this!" Nessa giggled.

Gloria firmly held the tennis ball in her hand, glaring across at Hop, who was in the back.

She tossed the ball up before slamming it down.

"YAH!"

Hop dove to the side and swung.

"Don't think so!"

The ball traveled high at Nessa, to which the model jumped and swung her racket overhead.

"Pow!"

The ball shot straight down.

"Hi-yah!" Kabu swung his racket at the perfect timing as the ball shot down, managing to send it back across.

Gloria's eyes flashed red as the ball came to her, an image of fire coursing around her rocket.

"ORA!!" 

She swung the racket with all her strength and blasted the ball back with a frightening spin, flames coursing around it.

It went right in Kabu's direction, the elder's eyes narrowing in determination before he pulled his racket back.

"Take THIS!!"

His racket connected to the ball, but surprisingly, it didn't get launched back. Instead, it rapidly spun against Kabu's racket, pushing the elder back.

"Nngh!" He felt his arms aching as he tried to keep pushing back, smoke coming from his racket due to the friction of the rapidly spinning ball.

"You got this, Kabu!" Hop shouted.

"You can do it!" Victor cheered.

Hearing their encouragement, Kabu grinned.

"I may have lost to your storm in our pokemon battle, Gloria, but I'm not letting my flames be put out here!"

He then gave one last push.

"RAAAAAA!!!" He swung the racket and sent the ball back in blue flames.

"Wha-!?" Gloria managed to react and swing her racket, but it shattered into pieces the moment she did. Her eyes widened as the ball continued on and bounced all the way to the wall, leaving scorch marks behind.

"Game, set, and match! Kabu and Hop win!" Milo clapped enthusiastically.

"Wow, that was awesome!" Victor cheered.

"Damn... I really didn't think he'd have it in him." Nessa mumbled, staring in awe at the black mark against the wall while catching her breath. "I guess even an old man can be pretty strong."

"Do you _not_ watch anime!?" Hop laughed across the net, then falling on his back out of exhaustion.

Gloria stared at her broken racket with emotionless eyes, taking in what just happened.

Then she fell to her hands and knees, where a comedically blue aura of depression manifested.

"I-I lost..."

She let her head touch the ground.

_"She looks so devastated..."_ Hop sweatdropped with an awkward chuckle as he used an elbow to slightly push himself up. _"But I'm pretty sure Victor would do anything for us if we ask him anyway."_

Marnie and Victor got onto the court, with the latter running to Kabu in excitement.

"See! I told you, Kabu! You still got it in you!"

The elder breathed heavily after that last swing, smiling proudly at himself for his accomplishment.

"I... *huff* I guess I do."

He rose his racket straight up.

"It was truly a match of burning passion! I'm grateful to have had such an amazing experience with everyone!"

"You guys were all really scary playing. I-I actually couldn't keep up just watching." Marnie nervously uttered.

Kabu lowered his racket and faced Victor proudly.

"Thank you, Victor, for providing me with such a challenge to demonstrate my capabilities. I will consider trying to bring back human sports... But only if you compete in them with me!"

_"I actually don't think I should do that..."_ Victor awkwardly chuckled to himself, recalling his unnatural abilities. "Maybe... If you actually start something up."

"I promise I will!" Kabu boomed.

"I'd actually be interested in joining too." Milo grinned as he stepped down from the judge's chair and approached the group. "It'd be great to work out while having fun than just pushing barrels of hay all day."

"Count me in too! I know I'm beating _everyone_ in swimming!" Nessa added.

"Wowie, I think this is nice and all, but I _really_ need a shower." Hop declared, managing to stand up and feeling his soaked shirt.

"The showers are back near the lobby." Kabu told them. "I'm sure we _all_ need them after all the battling we've been doing today."

_"Oh yeah, I did sweat a bit during Kabu's battle. I hope I don't stink."_ Victor thought as he secretly sniffed himself.

"I need to fix my hair. A shower will easily help with that." Nessa smiled, looking at her messed up splits on her head.

"Then, onward!" Kabu smiled.

As the group started leaving, Victor glanced over at Gloria, who was still on the ground in her own self-loathing.

He walked over to her and crouched down, smiling as he brought a finger up and poked her cheek.

"Boop."

Gloria rose her head to reveal her comedically watery eyes.

"Hey, now, don't be like that. You were amazing." Victor chuckled as he reached a hand and rubbed her head.

"But... I lost..." She pouted.

"It's okay. You did what I wanted you to do anyway. I'll buy you a stuffed animal later, one of the ones you don't have." Victor reassured her.

That made Gloria turned slightly red and looked down, being reminded that Victor that part of her room.

"O-Okay..." She whimpered.

_"So cute."_ Victor thought with flowers around him.

_______________________________

**~{Motostoke Exercise Gym-Ten Minutes Later}~**

Victor came out of the locker room, sparkling after his shower and feeling more refreshed than ever.

"Phew, that was nice. Did you guys wait long?" He asked the other three males who were waiting.

"No, we finished just a few moments ago as well. Besides, the girls are still in the shower, probably for another hour." Hop chuckled.

"Keep in mind, Hop, indeed it takes most women longer to take their showers, but that's usually because they wish to take delicate care of their hair. It's our job as men to respect this and be patient! Aaaaaaaand maybe plan ahead, so we're never late for anything..." Kabu stated with an awkward chuckle.

"Oi, them normal lassies may like ta waste time with lookin' all poofy, but it ain't matter with me."

The four males turned their heads and saw Gloria already next to them with her arms crossed, back in her usual attire.

_"You say that, but whenever we're going out to meet Victor, you take about an hour in the bathroom..."_ Hop sweatdropped.

Victor's nose picked up on a particular scent he recognized, having him approached Gloria and gently grabbed some of her brown hair.

"Eh?" The girl blinked.

*sniff* *sniff*

"KYAH!" She suddenly jumped about six feet away from Victor, blushing madly and panting hard in disbelief. "Wha-What the bloody hell!?!"

"Oh! So you're still using the Oran berry shampoo I gave you?" He smiled innocently, picking up on the clear scent of the unique berry.

"Victor, you gotta learn some common sense..." Hop stared blankly at him.

"It might not be about common sense. He could just be so familiar around Gloria that he doesn't think too much about what he does around her. You all grew up together, right?" Milo asked Hop.

"Yup, all of us in Postwick. Gloria was... 'interesting' to grow up with." Hop chuckled.

"Hey, everyone!" Nessa came out of the female locker room with Marnie beside her. Both females' hairs were still visibly wet but had been done into their usual hairstyles, both also back into their usual clothes.

"You're out already, Nessa? I assumed you'd take another thirty minutes!" Kabu laughed.

The model rolled her eyes, "Ha, ha. But I already took a shower this morning, so I didn't have to spend too long washing just the sweaty feeling off me."

Marnie was quiet as she stepped with the group, her Morpeko in her arms as usual.

"Well, it seems we've got everyone here." Milo smiled.

"And as much as it pains me to say, it appears I may have to split..." Kabu sighed as he glanced down at his Rotom phone.

"Eh!? Already!?! But it's only-!" Victor glanced down at his phone before forming a look of surprise. "Oh wow, it's three already? But it's still pretty early!"

"I have some challengers lined up for my gym. It appears that after they witnessed me lose multiple times in such a short time, some are believing that my flames are turning into flickers." The elder grinned.

"But it seems you're gonna teach them a lesson?" Hop smiled.

"Indeed, Hop, indeed." Kabu put his phone away and then bowed to the group. "I apologize, but I must take my leave! Challenger Hop, Marnie, Gloria, and Victor! I wish you all luck on your next part of your journey!"

"Thanks, Kabu! We'll make you proud!" Hop jumped, looking more pumped up.

Kabu nodded before then turning around and jogging away.

"Burn them up, old coot!" Nessa laughed as she watched Kabu go through the door.

"I think I'll be heading back to my gym too." Milo said as he adjusted his straw hat. "If I'm gone for too long, then my flock Wooloo tends to get so jumpy that they end up escaping their pens."

"Heh, good luck wranglin' them up." Gloria chuckled.

"Hey, we don't know if they got out... yet." Milo smiled before turning around. "I can't wait to see all of you at the league! It'll be so much fun fighting all of you!"

"Thank you." Marnie managed to say as she politely bowed.

Milo then took his leave through the door, leaving Nessa behind with the challengers' eyes turning to her.

"What about you, Nessa?" Hop asked.

Nessa put a hand to her chin in contemplation.

"Well... I don't really know..."

She then saw Victor smiling with bright, hopeful eyes, waiting for her to answer.

_"Urk!"_

Nessa didn't wish to just shatter that image right there, so she gave him a big smile.

"You know? There aren't really any more challengers coming to my gym ever since that whole winning streak I had. Heh, guess I scared the lot." She giggled. "So how about I come with you guys to the Wild Area until I get called back? I could even show you the good paths to take!"

"That'd be nice." Marnie answered with a nod.

"That'd be great!" Hop jumped.

"I'd love to have you around!" Victor cheered brightly.

Gloria just had a blank gaze, not exactly _thrilled_ about it.

________________________________

**~{Macro Cosmos Office}~**

"Training in the Wild Area?"

Oleana was at her desk with several books and papers stacked around her and her computer, clicking away with her mouse with one hand as the other kept her phone to her ear.

* _Yes. So the Gym will be left unattended for a few days._ *

"I see..." Oleana simply replied.

"Bea?" Chairman Rose questioned beside his secretary, sitting at the corner of the white desk with his hands in his pockets.

Oleana nodded as she continued listening to the fighting Gym Leader.

* _I'm sorry for the short notice._ * Bea said respectfully.

"It's quite all right. Thanks for letting me know. Bye." Oleana then hung up the phone and placed it next to her keyboard as Rose started to twirl his hair with a chuckle.

"That's so like her... Losing to Leon must have really hurt her."

Oleana didn't look up from her computer, maintaining her stoic expression as she typed away.

"I just hope she doesn't push herself too hard and get hurt."

At the same time, somewhere in the Northern Wild Area, Bea turned off her phone and set it down beside her, keeping stuck to her seat despite her ride's rocking.

She was in a Corviknight taxi, the large flying-type carrying her carriage struggling not to be suddenly pushed over by the strong winds of a sandstorm around them. The storm was so dense that you couldn't see a few yards in front of you, and sand was blowing all over the place, but Bea wasn't very worried about that. She at least had a black cloth wrapped around her head to keep sand from her head and had on sandals so her feet wouldn't burn too much.

Bea peeked outside at the sandstorm going on, not looking too fazed by the harsh conditions as she waited patiently for her ride to reach a certain point. She was unconsciously glaring as she remembered why she was out here and why she came to the Wild Area. 

Her loss... In her loss against Leon, in which she foolishly let her guard down, it was clear to her that she needed even more training than ever before.

"Cor!" The Corviknight above suddenly jerked to the side, forcing Bea to grab on to the door handle.

Bea narrowed her eyes as she felt the time was right. She turned around and grabbed a backpack with a duffle bag, metal bottles, and other items attached to it.

She opened the door to the taxi. 

"I'm getting off here!"

She leaped right out of the carriage and landed onto the desert sand.

"Miss Bea! Are you sure this is where you want to be!?!" The taxi driver shouted over the intense storm.

She didn't even answer him, already pulling out six small Ultra Balls and holding them between all of her fingers.

"Hi-yah!" With a shout, she flung them all into the air, the spheres growing to their normal sizes before all clicking open to release Bea's entire league team.

"Grapploct/ Falinks!/Hawlucha!/Sirfetch'd!/Hitmontop!/Machamp!" All six of her pokemon shouted as they came out, looking determined for their trainer.

"Let's go!" Bea took off, running into the sandstorm while all of her pokemon chased after her.

_"I'm not gonna lose to him again..."_

Bea panted as she used an arm to protect her face from the sand.

_"I won't!"_

She furiously kept running through.

_"I'll make sure I don't! Never again!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu standing in the security room, staring at the computer screen as crew members waddle around.)
> 
> Hm, so he's there... He's over there, and there's no one on the left side...
> 
> (Turns to you.)
> 
> Oh, you're back! Some time has passed, there's only a few of us left now. But yeah, we kicked that red guy out, he was sus. But more importantly, it appears that a lot of stuff happened in this chapter, even if it was a filler chapter. I found it a really enjoyable chapter, if I do say so myself. I mean... HNNNNG! Who can resist such a cute sight of Marnie and Gloria in each other's clothes!? HNNNG! *Ahem* Anyway, let's move on to other things... *GASP!* ALLISTER! NOOOOOOO! Wha-How-!? How can you be cruel to such a precious boy!? Argh! To feel so lonely and have the one person you talk to suddenly push themselves away from you, it... it hurts man. It really sucks. He needs someone to help him out, and we all know who that is. And damn Bea... She's getting a little too obsessed with strength. But like she said, she's in the Wild Area to try to 'fix' herself into becoming the strongest... I wonder if that's gonna go well? But now we leave off with our group of friends going to head out to the Wild Area once again, and with Nessa this time! *Claps energetically!* But... Don't expect her to be there too long, she'll at least have a nice walk with our heroes. So now I leave you all once again to play the waiting game. Thank you to everyone continuing to read. Leave a like and comment if you haven't, I always love to see them! And until next time trainers!
> 
> (White crew member walks in.)
> 
> Hm? Um... hi?
> 
> (Doors close behind him.)
> 
> Um...
> 
> (Red lights flash and alarms start blaring.)
> 
> Ooooooooh... Oh well.
> 
> (Shrugs and tail brings out a knife, then slicing white crew in half.)
> 
> Oh, and by the way, it wasn't red.
> 
> (Hops into vent.)


	22. Journey's Continuation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu at starting line of an obstacle course with 59 jellybean-like people standing near.)
> 
> Hey everyone... It's been a bit. The only thing I've really got to say about that is that life is a piece of shit that decides to give you three midterms in a day with several other small assignments and group work in the mix because school thinks that it's such a fucking good idea... I don't even feel like this chapter turned out too good, but I've thought that before yet people tell me those chapters were good. I'm not good at judging my own work.
> 
> Announcer: GO!
> 
> (Jelly bean people start running with Mimikyu just walking towards fans ahead.)
> 
> Life's just been kinda... depressing for these last weeks. Gotta think more about what I wanna do in college even though I'm already in it, because I don't even know what I wanna do... And I got weekly assignments to do that I don't feel motivated to do, and overall it just feels like a pattern happening over and over again... It ain't fun.
> 
> (Hops over swinging poles on ground as jellybean-men fly off.)
> 
> But yeah, enough rambling. You know why you're here, to see the adventure. What'll happen this time? Don't know. Is the quality good? Have no idea. I just hope you guys enjoy it.
> 
> (Get's launched by pole.)
> 
> Enjoooooooooooooy!

** ~{East Lake Axwell-3:35PM}~ **

Victor once again stared in awe at the sight of the Wild Area as he came down Motostoke's steps. He grinned as he landed on the dirt of the beloved world of nature, gazing off into the distance. He saw the red beams of light coming from Raid Dens, he saw the wild pokemon traversing the land, and he saw dark clouds moving overhead.

"Looks like it's getting pretty cloudy today." Nessa remarked as she walked next to Victor and casually rested her elbow on his shoulder.

"Hello Wild Area, my old friend! I've come back stronger than before!!" Hop shouted, jumping down the stairs from Motostoke before sticking a fist up in the air.

Marnie stepped down the steps and took a deep breath of the fresh afternoon air, enjoying the feeling of it.

"It's pretty chilly." She mumbled as she looked around, seeing some trees in the distance swaying from gusts of winds.

Gloria held her bonnet on her head, thinking it would be suddenly blown away as she made it to the bottom of the steps. She was in a relatively bright mood with her big smile, thinking about spending time together with her favorite person.

_ "I hope we stay together for a while!"  _ She thought as she glanced over at Victor.

Her smile immediately changed into a dead looking gaze as she saw Nessa grinning while rustling through Victor's head.

_ "If only she weren't here..." _

"So how do we get to the northern part of the Wild Area?" Marnie asked, her usual cold expression matching the chilly air.

Nessa grinned as she stepped away from Victor and turned left, raising her arm and pointing west.

"You see that bridge  _ waaaaaay _ over there?"

The group all glanced over to where Nessa was pointing, squinting their eyes as they looked along the Motostoke walls and to a brown wooden bridge over a river.

"You cross it to get to the Motostoke Outskirts, then you follow through Bridge Field until you get there!"

"Why's it called Bridge Field?" Hop asked curiously.

"Oh, for the love of- It's because we're going through a field that goes under the bridges of Motostoke! Ya know!? The ones leading into Hulbury and from the mines!?" Gloria declared.

"Ooooooooh."

Ace walked passed Victor with his paws in his pouch, glancing curiously at the bridge far ahead. Twilight was perched on Victor's backpack while Tesla slept soundly in the comfort of his usual spot. Little Midori walked beside his trainer and saw him stretch both his arms up, to which he stretched his own arms with a smile to mimic him.

Gloria had her own pokemon in their pokeballs, with the exception of Luna peeking out of her trainer's bag and Bubbles walking calmly on the ground. Marnie was holding her Morpeko as usual, just a normal sight from the two. Hop had Conga out on his shoulder, the Beat Pokemon cheering happily to continue with the adventure.

Victor grinned as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation, Midori copying him with the same visible excitement his trainer had.

"Ooooooooh boy! I can't wait to explore the place!"

Nessa chuckled. "Well, the Motostoke Outskirts and Bridge Field could take a day or two to get through, but the Northern Wild Area is  _ massive _ ! I'm talking about potentially taking days just to get from one section to another!"

"So... how long will it take us to get from here to Hammerlocke?" Marnie asked her.

"Heh, it depends on the person, but it took me about two weeks!"

" _ Two weeks _ !?! Sounds like we've got a long trip ahead of us." Hop grinned.

"Are you guys going to stay together the entire time?" Nessa asked.

Victor shook his head, "No, I think we gotta branch off at some point."

Gloria pouted, "Do we really have to...?" She mumbled.

"We gotta get some experience for ourselves!" Hop agreed with Victor.

"Wait, are you sure you guys really gonna end up splitting up? Won't that be dangerous?" Nessa asked, concern in her tone.

"Hey, we can take care of ourselves! We beat Kabu, after all!" Victor smiled.

"You did, his  _ gym _ team." Nessa pointed out, her expression turning serious. "And even though he had his ace pokemon, as I have mine, we had different,  _ weaker _ movesets for gym battles."

The four Gym Challengers stared at her in some confusion.

"Look, you kids may think that the Wild Area is a fun and easygoing place, but it's not. It's the  _ most _ dangerous place in Galar. Things try to  _ hurt _ you, maybe even worse."

Gloria's mind flashed back to when the Onix had slammed his tail down on Victor, her pupils shrinking at the thought.

"But... Why do some pokemon just try to go after us ?" Victor asked as he stared up at Nessa.

The Gym Leader shrugged. "No one really knows for sure... There have been so many sightings of pokemon fighting violently with one another in the Wild Area. And when they see humans... many pokemon seem to get even more aggressive."

She leaned forward and stared closer into Victor's eyes.

"So... I can't really say you guys should be by yourselves."

"I'll be fine." Victor immediately answered with determination, surprising Nessa. "I ran into an Onyx that tried to smush me, but in the end... he really wasn't that bad."

"Oh yeah, you kinda bounced around him." Hop chuckled.

"Well... We'll think about splitting up later." Victor smiled. "For now, I wanna spend time with all of you!"

_ "Awwww..."  _ Nessa couldn't help but enjoy how innocent that sounded.

She smiled and put her hands on her hips. "Then let's start heading out, shall we?"

"Hell yeah!" Hop shouted.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile-???}~ **

A man sat at a large, round table within a dark and shadowed room. He had his elbows propped up, his fingertips touched one another, and he had an evil grin to everyone around him.

Around the table with him were five others in their own seats, each one treating their meeting a unique way. One leaned back in his seat with his legs kicked up, another sat straight with his hands on his lap, the third tapped the table in irritation and with a scowl, a fourth had his elbow propped with his head in his hands, and the final one had his arms resting on the armrests.

"So... Why are we here?" One of the six men sighed in irritation. "I'd rather not be in the same room as hothead over here."

"Watch your words, Archie. You should take note of the irony towards yourself." A calmer person responded.

"Huh!? What was that!?" The angry man brought his feet down from the table and slammed his fist on it.

"You're not going to start your childish behavior already, are you!?" A cruel voice lacking sympathy growled.

" _ *Sigh* _ How pointless..." A voice lacking any care or emotion remarked.

"Can we hold off on the drama until we proceed with this meaning? I assume it must be important if we're all gathered here?" A last, calm, and respectable voice piped up.

That got everyone to turn their heads to the main person of the room.

"So... Why are we here, boss man? And what's with the lights being out?" The hardy voice called out.

The leading man kept his grin before speaking.

"First, let me ask you all, are you sure we're completely alone?"

He heard a scoff, "Of course. Anyone who would dare try to peek in will find themselves erased from existence. Now carry on and stop wasting my time!"

"Good... In that case..."

The man snapped his fingers, causing all the lights of the room to blaze on.

With the lights illuminating, the surrounding area was revealed to be a large room with a theme of black and red floors and walls. Several holograms of a rainbow-colored  ** R  ** were around the walls, and a bright red carpet sat underneath the large black meeting table where everyone was circled around.

The first of the six men shown in the light was a tall, muscular man wearing a blue bandanna with a unique  ** A  ** logo. He has black hair, tanned skin, and a black mustache connected to his large black beard. His outfit consists of a full-body swimsuit slightly damaged on his left bicep, white areas around his chest and feet, and had additional light blue areas on his legs. He has a ragged black cape with grey stripes behind him connected to gold chains around his torse in a necklace. The most notable thing about him was the golden anchor neckless containing a mega stone in it.

"Argh! At least warn us when you turn the lights on!" He snapped, raising an arm over his eyes to shield them.

"Oh shut up, Archie..." 

The one who spoke was a man in a seat across from Archie. He was a tall, thin man with red chin-length hair that curled outward. His outfit consists of a black shirt and red shorts, along with a black-red lab coat with a unique  ** M ** emblem on both sides. In addition, it appeared he was also wearing a red suit under his clothes and red boots, but he also had a notable feature that was black-framed glasses that contained a mega stone of his own.

"Huh!? You wanna say that to my face, Maxie!? I'll wash you away right now!" Archie snapped at his fire-rival.

A fist slammed on the table, causing both to turn to the source.

"Can you idiots not start a fight for  _ once _ in these god damn meetings!?!" The man who shouted had red eyes with a red eyepiece over one, pale green hair, and he had two locks sticking out by his eyes. He had on a black cloak with an eye pattern on them, yellow bracelets on his wrists, and black boots. In one of his hands was a cane with a unique logo of a  ** P  ** on it, which he was gripping tightly in irritation as the other remained tightly balled on the table.

"Now, now, Ghetsis. I think we both know there's no stopping those two from antagonizing each other..." The fourth who said this was a pale man with blue eyes and pointed red-orange hair connected to his beard. He wore a black suit, lined red and black dress shoes, black fingerless gloves, and most notably, a Mega Stone on his left middle finger.

Ghetsis turned to him with a glare. "Shut it, Lysandre! I don't wish to hear anything from a lunatic who'd blow up the world to keep it 'beautiful!'"

"That was uncalled for..." The quietest among the bunch said. He was a man with a dark, brooding expression, his blue eyes looking empty but matching the color of his spiked light blue hair. He wore a uniform consisting of a long-sleeve black shirt with a gray vest over it, also containing a notable golden  ** G  ** on said vest. In addition to these features, he has long black pants that matched his long-sleeves in fashion and with the final addition of plain gray shoes. 

Ghetsis turned to this man with a scowl.

"You be quiet, Cyrus! You're no better, you emotionless  _ freak! _ "

"I still don't understand why you're so full of resentment towards me." Cyrus responded, not looking fazed at all by the insult.

Ghetsis scoffed, " _ Sorry _ , I just have something against impulsive beings without a human heart." He said sarcastically.

"Are you all  _ done _ ?" An authoritative voice spoke with a threatening tone.

All five of the leaders around the table all turned their heads to the one who called them. 

He was a powerful man. Tall, medium built, and with short black hair that matched his dark eyes. He wore a long-sleeve black shirt with a large V neck that showed a white undershirt and wore black, slightly baggy trousers and black shoes. But on the left breast of his long-sleeve shirt, there was the notable rainbow-colored  ** R  ** on it.

He gazed at them with an evil smile, now waiting to be sure that he had their attention.

"Giovanni..." Lysandre started before Ghetsis interrupted with a growl.

" _ Why _ are we here? Why am  _ I _ in the same room as these infernal-!"

"Quiet." Giovanni cut him off sharply, still maintaining his smile.

"..." Ghetsis glared at him before leaning back in his seat, crossing his arms. "Tsk!"

"Now then, it appears you've all calmed down." Giovanni said as he entwined his fingers together. "Now we can get down to business. The reason for bringing all of you here today is simple. You're all going to reside and operate here in Galar, starting today."

There was immediate retaliation.

"What the hell do you mean!?! Like I'd want to breathe anywhere  _ near _ him!!" Archie shouted while pointed at Maxie.

Maxie simply sighed while adjusting his glasses, "I'm afraid I must refuse. I must remain at least six feet away from that brute at all times. Otherwise, you may find his body floating in the ocean."

"You're just  _ asking _ for it, aren't you!?" Archie snapped.

"I REFUSE to stay here with these idiots!" Ghetsis snapped.

"..." Cyrus didn't react one bit.

Lysandre raised an eyebrow, "I assume there must be a reason for us needing to remain here in close contact? Is there a situation that needs our compliance?"

Giovanni nodded. "Indeed... I'm sure you'll all be pleased to hear that we've located our key to success."

There seemed to be confusion from some of the table, but Cyrus spoke the first thing that came to mind.

"Subject V-49?" He asked with an emotionless voice.

That made some eyes light up.

"Hold up, you're saying we found the kid you told us about!?" Archie asked as he scratched his head.

"Subject V-49..." Ghetsis said with an evil grin, now fully invested in the conversation.

"Aka Victor..." Maxie mumbled as he looked down with a hand on his chin.

Giovanni nodded again. "So I've called the five of you here because now that we have his location, we can finally return to the previous plans my organization started so many years ago. So for that, our order of operations will be here in Galar for as long as needed."

"You're telling me he's somewhere within this region? The region considered to have the strongest trainers in the world?" Lysandre asked.

"Indeed, we've already been monitoring his actions recently." Giovanni answered.

"So what are we waiting for? Should I go nab the kid?" Archie asked with a grin.

"I don't think it's that simple, Archie." Maxie remarked. "We're in the region considered to contain the strongest trainers in the world. From Gym Leaders to their champion... So if we've all been called here, it's no doubt because it may take all our efforts and exact coordination to extract the boy, correct?"

"Something like that." Giovanni chuckled. "He appears to have become personal friends with the 'world champion' and has been seen surrounded by other powerful trainers. And in addition to this..."

He separated his hands and pressed a button on his part of the table, projecting a screen in the center of the group that showed footage of Victor fighting several Rainbow Rocket pokemon earlier in the week.

"He appears to have... had some practice."

Everyone's eyes were engrossed on Victor.

"Wait... He has a clear understanding of his abilities. And those movements... it appears he's had some fighting guidance. Did he perhaps share his secrets to someone?" Lysandre remarked, looking rather intrigued at the boy's movements.

"Not that we were able to discover. But I don't believe he's told any other humans of his... 'abilities.' Which leaves me to believe he may have been taught how to use his powers from pokemon." Giovanni stated. "It's been apparent that he can communicate with them."

Ghetsis couldn't help but form a large grin and crazed wicked eyes as he stared at the footage of the only being of his kind, thinking of so many possibilities of power.

_ "He's perfect... Someone who can connect to both humans and pokemon..."  _

"It appears he's started gathering his own team pokemon as well." Cyrus pointed out as he caught sight of Victor's Raboot, Corvisque, and Kirlia fighting against a few fully evolved pokemon of Rainbow Rocket Grunts.

Maxie focused away from the projection and turned to Giovani. "So, how will we proceed?"

"Should we all jump him together right now? We got the power." Archie smirked as he pulled out a purple and white Pokeball with a white  ** M ** on it.

"Not now. He's currently surrounded by several acquaintances, including a Gym Leader of Galar. And I wish to make this clear. None of you, under any circumstances, are to attack him while there are witnesses." Giovanni sternly stated.

"What!? To hold off an acquiring my- er,  _ our _ most important specimen!?" Ghetsis snapped.

Giovanni turned to him.

"Galar is already on high alert for any activity, so there are more agents from the Macro Cosmos Agency keeping watch in several areas. From the information I've gathered, their numbers rival Rainbow Rocket in its entirety, so we can't recklessly just take any aggressive action."

"So, if he's alone, then we may apprehend him?" Maxie asked as he adjusted his glasses.

Giovanni smirked. "Well... You can try. Will you all go together?"

"Hah, as if!" Archie shot up to his seat and pointed a thumb at himself with a confident grin. "I don't need these bozos to catch a kid! I'll do it myself!"

"Oh, please, Archie. You need help just finding the lavatory for this place." Maxie sighed.

"Oi, this place is  _ HUGE _ , alright!? And stop using those smart-ass words! That doesn't make you look any better than anyone here!" Archie snapped as he pointed at Maxie.

"Hm, I'm surprised you even understood me." Maxie remarked.

"Why you-!"

"I  _ refuse _ to work with incompetent fools." Ghetsis hissed with pure venom in his voice. The unforgiving man stood up from his seat and slammed the bottom of his cane to the ground, turning towards Giovanni before evilly grinning. "Lord Giovanni, allow me to demonstrate just how much more  _ suited _ I am compared to all these... 'amateurs.'" 

Archie and Maxie glared at Ghetsis, Lysandre stared calmly at him, and Cyrus's emotionless gaze didn't change.

"Ghetsis... I do believe it would be smarter to cooperate with one another." Lysandre stated.

"I don't need any of your assistance! You would all be  _ hindrances! _ " Ghetsis snapped as he turned in Lysandre's direction. He then turned back to Giovanni and did a polite bow, a smirk hidden in the corner of his mouth. "Allow me to prove my worth to you, Lord Giovanni."

"..." 

Giovanni simply stared back at Ghetsis with a serious look, his fingertips touching together as he leaned back in his chair. Lysandre assumed that the powerful leader would take disciplinary action against the rude man beneath him, judging by how he was frowning.

But surprisingly, the Rainbow Rocket leader just sighed.

"You may all do what you wish, as you've always done. Just remember to only take action when he's alone, and don't risk involving others in order to get to him. The trainers of this region aren't to be taken lightly, nor can we risk making it clear to anyone that Victor is our intended target."

"Alright, got it." Archie grinned as he jumped out of his seat and proceeded to leave. "I'll show the kid the power of aqua!"

Maxie shook his head and stood up from his own seat, "So you're just gonna be useless..."

"I HEARD THAT!!" Archie shouted as he got to the end of the room.

Maxie ignored him and politely bowed before turning around to another exit, "I'll be sure to bring him here."

Ghetsis scowled that Giovanni didn't entrust the task to him, but he turned around and made his way out of the room as well, picturing what kind of uses his new 'friend' would have for him.

_ "Subject V-49... I've failed once in creating a perfect king who can communicate with both people and pokemon. But if I can figure out how to... 'persuade' V-49 into cooperating with me, then he'll be a perfect puppet, a perfect figure of power! I must find him first."  _

Ghetsis evilly grinned at the thought, his exposed eye glowing red while the red eyepiece on the other started matching the evil glow.

"..." 

Cyrus was simply silent as he watched the three out of six of them leave, then standing up from his own chair. "I'll take my leave."

He turned around and proceeded to leave as well, his footsteps echoing in the spacious room like the others had been.

This left Giovanni and Lysandre left, with the latter staring curiously at the powerful businessman ever since he had let the leaders do what they wish.

"Giovanni... Why didn't you order them to cooperate with one another?" He voiced his question in both confusion and concern.

Giovanni smirked.

"Information."

Lysandre raised an eyebrow, "What?"

The leader chuckled as he leaned forward in his chair.

"I wish to see Victor's utmost potential. To examine his growth and see just what it would take to bring him down. While I'm confident that all of you can overwhelm him if you actually work together, he'll understand this as well and simply use his abilities to escape. He wouldn't be foolish enough to fight such a losing battle, especially when he understands  _ exactly _ what he'll be fighting against. I wish to examine the scale of his power before I even think of trying to obtain him for myself. With any one of you fighting him and his pokemon by yourselves, then he'll be more likely to fight, and  _ then  _ we'll see just what kinds of limits he has."

Lysandre continued to curiously stare at Giovanni.

"But... do you believe he can take on such powerful pokemon we have? Including..." He gazed down at his white and purple Pokeball.

Giovanni's eyes were filled with excited anticipation.

"That's what I wish to find out."

* * *

** ~{Motostoke Outskirts- 3:49PM}~ **

"Look at all those pokemon!" Hop beamed as he glanced over the edge of the wooden bridge and into the river.

A stream of water from a Mantyke suddenly soaked his face, to which the boy formed a blank, dripping expression.

"Pfft!" Gloria started laughing as the small Mantyke almost looked smug before it dived back down.

"Careful, some of these water pokemon are little tricksters." Nessa giggled as her sandals creaked the bridge she walked over.

"Heh, here, Hop." Victor chuckled, handing Hop a small towel from his backpack.

"Thanks." Hop smiled as he rubbed his face with it.

Midori balanced on the bridge's railing like a gymnast while Ace walked below him on the bridge, both seeming to enjoy the walking.

Marnie quietly walked behind the group, glancing at the river's beautiful blue water that flowed.

"Oi, ain't that a Snorlax?" Gloria paused, blinking several times as she saw a large, blue-green, and cream-colored round pokemon nearly seven feet tall that was just past the bridge's end and on a clear field ahead.

The Snorlax was sitting and raised a hand to his mouth, yawning sleepily and not even caring that some individuals were coming up from the bridge that led to him.

"OOOO!! Dibs!!" Hop's eyes flashed before he immediately ran forward.

"Hop! Wait! I don't think you wanna-!"

Nessa's shouting fell on deaf ears as Hop already reached the end of the bridge and grinned as he pulled out a Pokeball.

"Go, Monster Ball!" He flung his Pokeball and sent it spinning rapidly toward the Snorlax.

The pokemon's eyes flashed menacingly red before he suddenly slammed onto his feet, swinging his arm and punching the Pokeball as hard as he could. The Pokeball looked to visibly distort upon impact before it was sent it flying into the air, disappearing into a twinkle in the sky.

Everyone's expressions turned black and white with agape mouths, stunned by what they saw from a normally lazy pokemon.

The Snorlax then turned his head and glanced downward at Hop, not looking angry nor confused, just curious with his closed-looking eyes.

_ "Since when did Snorlax's move like that!? Actually, since when did they even stand!?"  _ Victor wondering in shock.

"So, that's how you wanna play it then?" Hop grinned as Conga came beside him with a smile.

"Hop, I don't think ya should-"

Hop cut off Marnie as he pointed forward. "Conga, Razor Leaf!"

"Thwackey!" Conga jumped forward and swung his arm, to which over a dozen sharp leaves were sent flying at the Snorlax.

"Snor!" Snorlax's lips seemed to form into a frown before he stomped his foot and  _ jumped _ forward. He became surrounded by a silver aura that bounced the leaves coming at him right off with any effect.

_ "Heavy Slam!?"  _ Hop recognized with his eyes widening.

Snorlax's shadow enveloped Conga, whose eyes widened in fear before he got crushed, the slam of the attack kicking up large clouds of dust around the area.

"Conga!" Hop shouted in worry.

Victor covered his eyes with his arm to keep the dust from getting into his eyes, but he tried to peek any chance he could to see what happened.

It only took a few moments before Snorlax's silhouette stood up in the clouds of dust, which then cleared away to reveal the large pokemon's imprint in the ground, and with Conga right in the center of it.

"Thwak..." Conga groaned, sprawled out on the ground, unconscious.

_ "He went down with one move..."  _ Hop nervously gulped, immediately returning his downed pokemon.

_ "That Snorlax is really strong..."  _ Marnie thought with a serious stare.

"Hop...  _ Slowly _ back away from him." Nessa called, pulling out one of her Dive Balls with a serious glare. "This Snorlax is clearly a tough pokemon for the Wild Area... And if this one is actually moving... then he might be really hungry... You never want to mess with an angry pokemon."

"Do we have any Snickers?" Victor whispered to Gloria.

_ "Eh?" _ Gloria deadpanned.

As for Hop, he nodded at Nessa's advice and slowly took a step back from the Snorlax, who was eyeing him down.

Victor, feeling worried for his friend, acted based on what Nessa said and stepped off the bridge towards the Snorlax.

"Don't worry guys, I got this." He smiled.

"Hold it right there, Mr. Famous Last Words!" Nessa said as she grabbed Victor by the shoulder before he could get too far. "Don't let your win against Kabu get into your head too! You shouldn't try to take this guy as you are now! And even if you catch him, I doubt he'd listen to you!"

"Don't worry, Nessa! I'm not gonna fight him!" Victor reassured her as he gently pulled his shoulder away.

"Eh?" Nessa was confused as Victor took off his backpack and dug into it, gently moving a sleeping Tesla out of the way and checking into one of the hidden pockets.

"You said he's probably hungry, right? So..."

"Oi, Victor, don't tell me ya gonna-?"

"Cookies!" Victor shouted as he pulled out a container of sweets sparkling to the brim.

"Of course ya are..." Gloria facepalmed, recalling her friend's previous interaction with an Onix.

"Wait, Victor, I don't think that's a good idea!" Nessa panicked.

"Why not?"

" _ Look _ at him!" The model pointed.

Victor glanced back at the Snorlax and saw that his eyes flash red as a  _ menacing  _ aura surrounded him.

"Somethin' tells me you should run..." Marnie said as she shivered from the aura of the pokemon.

Victor just smiled as he put his backpack back on, still holding the case of sweets.

"It'll be fine!"

He took a few steps forward.

"I'm hardened at this point! I'm ready for anything!"

He said this, but the moment he finished talking, the Snorlax...

Started...

_ Running _

At him.

Victor's eyes instantly dilated as he saw the large pokemon somehow go into a sprint towards him, his large feet thundering and causing the ground to tremble.

"GYAH!" Victor blasted to the side while holding the container of sweets above his head, getting away from his friends and leading the Snorlax away.

_ "Wait, I LIED! I was not, I was NOT ready for anything! Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope SO much nope!" _

"Victor!?!" Gloria shouted as she watched her friend run ahead.

"I'LL MEET YOU GUYS AHEAD!!" Victor screamed as he kept running for his life.

"Cor!?/ Raboot!?/ Kirl!?!"

Twilight immediately took to the sky, Ace used Agility to increase his speed as he ran, and Midori teleported away so they could all catch up.

"Victor, whatever you do, DON'T look back!" Nessa screamed as they ran after him.

* * *

** ~{Meanwhile}~ **

Bea carried her large bag up a somewhat steep cliff, carefully climbing up with her pokemon close behind. She had made it out of the edge of the Dusty Bowl her Corviknight Taxi had taken her and was now into another part of Galar's landscape. An area with steep cliffs and bright sunlight brightly shining down upon her.

"*Huff* *Puff*" After a long climb, she managed to make it up into a less steep part of the steep mountain she had been climbing. She made it to somewhat flat ground and immediately put her large bag down, standing up straight and gazing out at the large view of the Wild Area that stretched farther than the eye could see.

She appreciated the beautiful view for a moment as her pokemon managed to make their way up the mountain with her, although everyone needed to help the six individual Falkinks that couldn't climb effectively.

Bea glanced around and saw a lake in the distance, some more desert-like formations, and many lush trees, having her make her decision.

She grabbed the black cloak that she had been using to give herself shade and tossed it off.

"This will suffice..."

She turned to her pokemon, her usual stoic expression on her. 

"This is where we'll start... This will be the beginning of our journey..."

Her pokemon all had the same stoic look their trainer had, besides Falinks, who looked rather worried.

"It's clear that everything we've done wasn't enough to beat Leon..."

Her pokemon looked down, somewhat looking ashamed.

"But it's none of your faults. It's mine."

They glanced back up at her in surprise.

"Champ?" Her Machamp uttered.

"You all follow my commands perfectly, all of you gave your absolute best efforts for me, but it hasn't been enough... It's not any of you, so I know it must be me."

The fighting prodigy looked down as she put a hand over her chest.

"I'm not strong enough as a trainer to lead all of you... So  _ I _ have to get even stronger."

Bea rose her head with a new look of determined fury.

"I have to be like all of you. This appears to be the only path left that could lead us to beat Leon. I have to be as mentally sharp as all of you, I have to be in complete sync as all of you..."

She rose a tight fist.

"I have to be as  _ strong _ as all of you."

Her pokemon didn't like where she was going with this.

"So..."

Their worries came true as Bea got into a fighting stance, not towards any human, but towards them.

"Don't hold back, please."

* * *

** ~{Bridge Field-4:15PM}~ **

Victor was hiding in a tree as the Snorlax finally gave up trying to find him, the large pokemon stomping away in annoyance. 

_ "Phew, that scared the life out of me... I didn't think I'd ever see a Snorlax run in my entire life... Good luck EVER catching that thing, Hop..." _

A pokemon teleported right on top of Victor and landed on the boy's lap, revealing it to be Midori.

"Kirl!" The pokemon looked rather worried as he gazed up at his trainer.

"I'm all right... Just a little tired." Victor chuckled as he gently rubbed his pokemon's head.

He remained hidden in the tree for a few minutes just to make sure the Snorlax was gone, taking the time to notice his surroundings. He saw a few small lakes in the distance, several pokemon scurrying across the field, and the sky was still cloudy where he was. He didn't know when his friends would catch up, so he started going through his thoughts, contemplating the Snorlax's behavior.

_ "The moment food was brought up... He just went completely wild. Like he hasn't eaten anything in so long... Has he not?" _

Victor gazed out at the landscape of Bridge Field, the land stretching underneath the large brick bridges in the distance. He glanced around and saw the trees scattered around, or more notably, the  _ lack _ of trees.

_ "Right..." _

"Kirl?" Midori uttered, seeing his trainer deep in thought.

Victor glanced down with a new serious expression, "Hey, Midori? Just how much food is there in the Wild Area?"

That question made Midori seem... uncomfortable. The small pokemon glanced away from Victor and stared out at the view of the Wild Area, eyes seeming to drop.

"Hey... What's wrong?" Victor asked, tilting his head in concern.

"Victor! Where are ya!?"

His attention was caught by Gloria's shouting, the boy turning his head to see the girl and the rest of the group running while gazing in all directions.

"How far could they have gone!? *Huff*" Hop panted as he turned to Gloria.

"Hell if I know!" Gloria yelled as they continued on.

"How fast can he run!?" Nessa shouted.

"Very!" Hop responded.

Twilight was flying overhead before quickly diving down to get the attention of Victor's companions, where Gloria caught sight of the flying pokemon and skid to a stop.

"Oi, Twilight! Where's Victor!?" Gloria asked him.

"Cor!" Twilight repeatedly flapped in the air as he turned his head to a tree not far off, focusing the group's attention to a large tree where Ace was waving at them.

"Raboot!" He pointed up at the tree as Midori hopped down from it, with Victor following behind, still looking somewhat confused by how Midori acted.

The group caught sight of their friend and made their way to him.

"Victor! Ya alright!?" Gloria shouted as she got closer.

Victor climbed down the tree and faced the group as they arrived.

"Yeah, I managed to slip away from him." He chuckled.

"Wow, Victor! *huff!* How did you run so fast!?" Hop asked between tired breaths.

"Um... By using my legs?"

"Oh, think you're funny, don't you?" Hop deadpanned.

"Pfft!" Nessa muffled a laugh.

"*Pant* Are... Are ya hurt?" Marnie stammered, not used to running while holding her Morpeko.

"No, I just hid until he left." Victor reassured her.

"What  _ was _ that!?! Since when does a Snorlax go rampagin' around like that!?" Gloria shouted.

Nessa removed her hand from her mouth, looking more serious and composed now.

_ "I haven't seen anything like that before... And from a Snorlax of all pokemon?" _

"Victor, where'd that Snorlax go!?" Hop asked as he searched around, pulling out yet another Pokeball.

"Don't tell me you're gonna go after it!?" Victor responded in disbelief.

"Hell yeah! He was amazing!" Hop sparkled.

"Well... Sorry to tell you, but he's long gone." Victor sighed.

"And I don't think you're ready to fight something that scary just yet..." Nessa sighed.

"Aw, pants!" Hop pouted, stomping the ground.

" _ *Gasp*  _ Hop, language! We have a Marnie here!" Victor said with a look of shock.

"Please don't treat me like a small child. I've said much worse." Marnie stared blankly at him.

"And really!? You point me out!?  _ Me _ !? Do you even  _ hear _ what Gloria says half the time!?" Hop pointed.

"Actually, I can't even understand her sometimes." Victor remarked.

"Ya best be glad ya can't..." Gloria looked away, knowing some of the... 'hostile' phrases she's said before.

_ "Heh, they really are quite a funny group."  _ Nessa smiled. 

The model then saw a flash of red catch her eye, having her turn with an interested look at a red beam in the distance.

"Hey, kids?"

"Hm?" The four Gym Challengers turned to her.

"Have you guys ever been to a Raid Den before?"

Hearing her question, Victor turned to where Nessa was looking, eyes widening to see a large, reddish-pinkish beam firing into the sky about a mile away.

The rest of the group's eyes turned in the same direction, where Hop's eyes glimmered with excitement.

"Actually... I haven't!" He beamed.

"Hm... Nope." Gloria stared.

"I've been ta one... It's how I got my Croagunk." Marnie answered.

Victor put on a big grin as he adjusted his beanie.

"I've been forgetting to head to one. So are we doing what I think we're doing?"

Nessa took the lead, walking passed the group with a smirk.

"I wanna see what you guys can do."

* * *

** ~{Motostoke City-4:35PM}~ **

"Here we are, Magnezone!"

Colress's pokemon lifted his trainer into the air as he looked down at the industrial city below him with a fascinated smile.

"Motostoke, the industrial city powered by steam. Supposedly one of the earlier cities of Galar built before Dynamax energy was officially discovered. And to this day, the city continues to be the only place in Galar that relies on said steam-power, besides their stadium using Dynamax energy." Colress pulled up his left arm and started typing on the keyboard on his wrist, projecting a small hologram.

He typed away as his holographic screen changed from location to location in Motostoke. 

"Interesting, to say the least, but this isn't what I'm here for. So..."

He continued typing away.

"So, where are you, subject V-49?"

He searched through Motostoke's news before stopping at the information of three Gym Leaders spending time with a group of challengers.

Colress chuckled.

"Ah, the media... Such a dangerous place. For everyone to know where you are, what you're doing, and what you're thinking... Quite scary. But this plays to my favor."

Sure enough, he followed the news of where his target was seen. Going into a store called the Battle Cafe, then heading to a Motostoke clothing store, and then heading to a gym for the group to exercise before finally making it out to the Wild Area.

"Oo! He hasn't left that long ago! Come, Magnezone! To the Wild Area!" He pointed.

His Magnezone sighed but obliged, flying once again.

* * *

** ~{Bridge Field-Raid Den}~ **

Victor and his companions all stood around a rocky opening in the ground with a bright beam of reddish-pink light emitting from it. In addition to the light, faint echoes were coming from within the den, making the group around them look somewhat nervous.

"Okay... So do we know the pokemon in this den?" Hop asked.

"Ya can check with ye Rotom phones." Marnie told him, pulling out her own phone and pointing it at the den.

"Really? It can do that?" Victor asked in surprise.

"Yup. It listens closely in the den for any pokemon cries and matches it up to the closest pokemon it sounds like." Nessa told him as Marnie's Rotom phone finished picking up on a pokemon's echoing sounds, then pulling up the Pokedex screen.

"So which one is it?" Gloria asked, peering over Marnie's shoulder to take a look.

Marnie held out her hand to show everyone the pokemon in the den.

Gloria instantly squealed with hearts comedically replacing her eyes.

Victor looked at Marnie's screen and saw a small, light yellow pokemon with a round body encased within an eggshell with red and blue shapes on it. The pokemon had five somewhat-spikes on its head, black eyes, and stubby hands and feet with two toes.

"Oh, a Togepi!" He smiled.

"I want it!" Gloria immediately declared with heavy breathing.

"Well, then I guess we're doing this then!" Hop laughed.

"Just be careful when going-" Nessa didn't finish as Gloria had already dived right into the den.

"I'm coming, Pixieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Her voice echoed.

_ "She already named it!?!/She just jumped in!?!"  _ Hop and Victor thought at the same time with shocked expressions.

"Don't go running ahead! That's  _ my _ job!" Hop then shouted as he leaped over the edge of the den and fell inside as well.

Victor adjusted his beanie with a smile. "Come on then!" He turned to his pokemon and started returning them in their Pokeballs to save time, then jumping in with his backpack, thankfully not getting stuck.

This just left Marnie and Nessa, with the latter turning to the former with a smile.

"They need one more person, you know?"

"Are you gonna come watch?" Marine asked in return.

"Nah, this is for you guys." The model responded with a point to her.

Marnie nodded and set her Morpeko down, the two making it to the den and carefully climbing into it.

"Good luck, kiddos." Nessa chuckled, crossing her arms.

Hop had no idea the path down into the den was slanted inside, ending up rolling down the slope with spinning eyes.

Behind him, Victor used his shoes and slide down the slope with a grin and Ace sliding behind.

The bright source of red and pink started getting brighter and brighter as Victor descended deeper into the den, then leaping and landing into a crouch with his eyes looking up in awe.

There it was. A giant Togepi that was innocently smiling despite looking menacing in size and aura.

** "Toooooogeeeeeepiiiii!!!!"  ** Its cry echoed within the large area of the den.

Victor grinned as he glanced left and right, taking into account who was around him.

Hop was pushing himself off the ground after having finished tumbling down the den, dirt stains around him as he glanced up with his own look of shock at the giant pokemon. His Corvisquire, Sky, was fluttering in front of Hop and glaring at the Togepi, ready for action. 

Gloria was standing proudly with fire in her eyes, and an excited grin plastered on her face. Luna was already out and in front of her trainer, smiling and looking excited to fight.

"Mor! Mor!"

Victor glanced back to see Morpeko running forward in black and purple colors, with Marnie quickly getting down the slope and being careful not to trip. She met up beside Victor before focusing her gaze on the Togepi, a serious and determined expression forming to show she was battle-ready.

But before Victor took action, he wanted to say something first.

"Hey, Togepiiiiiiiii!!!" He shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. 

** "Pi?"  ** The pokemon stared down with a confused look at them.

"Sorry about this! But once Gloria sets her sigh on something, NOTHING stops her!"

"Oh, Victor, polite as always." Hop chuckled as he stood up and dusted himself off.

"Luna, use Psybeam!" Gloria shouted, not wasting any time.

"Morpeko, Spark!" Marnie pointed with her hand.

"Sky, Pluck him!" Hop beamed.

"Ace, Ember!" Victor finished.

Ace and Sky rushed forward while Luna and Morpeko jumped with psychic and electric energy coursing around each respected pokemon.

"Ra-!" Ace kicked up a stone as it coursed with fire, then jumping and slamming his foot to send it flying. "Boot!"

"MOR!" Morpeko sent a stream of electricity.

"Hnnnn!!" Luna put her hands on her head as a telekinetic beam fired from her head.

"Cor!" And Sky just started flying straight ahead with his beak glowing white.

Their attacks connected simultaneously into the large Togepi, causing enough force to make the giant cavern feel as if it was shaking.

** "T-Togepi!?"  ** The large pokemon stepped back before forming an angry pout, glaring down at the group.

** "Toooo!"  ** A reddish-pink barrier then appeared to manifest around Togepi, then turning invisible as if it wasn't there.

The Togepi then opened its mouth as she let out a cry once more.

** "TOOOOOO!!!!"  ** Flashes occurred above the Togepi, where multiple giant yellow stars appeared out of nowhere and started to rain towards the pokemon.

_ "Max Starfall!"  _ Victor shouted to himself.

"MOOOOOOVE!!!" Hop shouted.

The four pokemon all frantically moved out of the way of the raining stars, each one exploding into a pillar of pink energy that erupted upward.

"Ace, be sure to protect Morpeko!" Victor shouted as the energy died down.

Ace nodded as he jumped and started running beside the shorter pokemon.

"Mor?" Morpeko momentarily returned back to his yellow look, glancing over at Victor after hearing him. She noticed him glance to Marnie and nod, to which Marnie gave returned the nod with her own out of appreciation. After all, Morpeko was a Dark and Electric-type, so it appeared Victor was considerate in the weakness.

It was appreciated by Morpeko too, who glanced ahead and returned to focus on the large pokemon near her.

"Quick attack!" Both Marnie and Victor yelled.

Ace and Morpeko were both surrounded in white and visibly vibrated before both took off to avoid more giant stars that exploded behind them.

"Luna! Teleport on Sky and support him from there!" Gloria shouted.

"Kirl!" Luna vanished from the spot and appeared high up in the air, where she then landed on Sky and planted herself down.

"Use Disarming Voice and Psybeam!" Gloria then instructed.

"Keep your distance, Sky, and let Luna attack for you!" Hop supported.

"RAAAAA!!!!" Luna projected hearts forward.

They connected to the large target of a pokemon but only made her slightly flinch.

"Get em' with Spark!" Marnie then pointed.

"Mor!" Morpeko and Ace were running beside each other before taking a sharp right with electricity coursing around her.

****

Togepi saw Morpeko running and frowned. Then using Ancient Power, causing several large clusters of rock to rise around her.

** "Piiiiiii!!!"  ** She then sent them flying down.

"Ace, Agility and Double Kick!" Victor called.

Ace visibly vibrated before he vanished behind Morpeko, the rabbit appearing ahead and jumping right towards the doubly sized rocks.

"Raboot!" He spun at accelerating speeds before he slammed a rock away, using the impact of his kick to send himself flying to another. He repeated this process and made a clear path for Morpeko as she flashed forward in yellow.

"Mor!" (Thank you!) She shouted as she jumped and spun into a ball surrounded by electricity.

She easily hit her mark with the Togepi's large size, shocking the pokemon and causing visible damage.

** "T-To-!!"  ** Togepi winced as Morpeko bounced off her.

"Raaaaaaaaa!!" Luna fired a series of Disarming Voices and Psybeams to the large pokemon, adding up damage while quickly flying around Togepi on top of Sky.

Victor then saw the mysterious barrier around Togepi then get shattered, causing the Pokemon to stumble back.

"Just a bit more!" Victor stated confidentially.

Hop then pulled out his Pokeball and grinned. "Let's finish this off, Sky! Time to Dynamax!"

Hearing this, Luna jumped off Sky and teleported before the flying pokemon was returned into his Pokeball, which grew several times its size in Hop's hands.

"Ora!" The boy rose the ball above his head before flinging forward, then releasing his gigantic Corvisquire.

** "Coooooor!!!" **

The giant Togepi was caught off guard by the giant bird that appeared.

** "P-Pi!?!" **

"Send out a Max Airstream to finish this!" Hop instructed.

Sky flapped his wings rapidly before performing one larger flap, sending a powerful tornado of wind spiraling towards the Togepi.

They connected on their mark perfectly, resulting in a larger than normal explosion, followed by  _ another _ even bigger explosion from the pokemon.

"We got em'!" Marnie shouted as her Morpeko scurried back to her.

"MINE!" Gloria's eyes menacing flashed with stars before she pulled out a Pokeball, the red and white sphere suddenly growing into a Dynamax Pokeball as she lifted it above her head.

She then flung her giant Pokeball forward. 

"YEET!"

_ "Yeet?"  _ Victor repeated with a blank gaze.

The giant Pokeball flew through the air all the way to the Togepi, clicking open and then absorbing the pokemon inside.

Then there was silence as everyone stopped moving and focused on the large Pokeball that landed on the ground. 

There was one shake, two shakes, three, and then...

*Click!*

Gloria let out a loud squeal before she dove forward to the now shrinking Pokeball, picking it up and lifting it above her head.

"I got em'! I caught a Togepi! Another addition to my  _ super  _ cute team!

The cavern's light somewhat dimmed down due to the pokemon's catch, as the Togepi was the one emitting most of the bright light around them. However, there were still traces of Dynamax energy left behind, gently illuminating the area as Gloria hugged her Pokeball.

"Pixie! I'ma name her Pixie!" Gloria continued squealing.

"I think you already did before we even went in. Nice to see you and your cute pokemon." Victor chuckled.

Realizing that there were indeed other people around her, Gloria froze and quickly turned to them while trying to regain her composure.

"I-I mean... She's a strong pokemon and all..."

"Too late, already said cute team, and it's not like we didn't know you like cute things." Hop said with a smug grin.

"Have you ever heard the sound of someone losing their memory?"

"Eh? No?" Hop answered with a tilt of his head.

"Would you like to?" Gloria evilly grinned as she brought up a flaming fist.

"GAH!" Hop immediately retreated behind Victor. "Victor, use Charm!"

Victor flinched.

"I-I'm not a Pokemon!"

Morpeko stepped beside Ace and looked up at him with a small smile.

"Mor, Mor." (Thanks again for the help.)

Ace had his hands in his pouch as he glanced down at Morpeko with his usual moody gaze.

"Boot, Raboot." (Thank him.) He said, glancing over at his trainer, who was trying to keep Gloria from smashing Hop's head in.

Morpeko turned her head to Victor as well, curiously staring at him.

"Morpeko?" (Is he good?)

"Raboot... Boot..." (Too good... You'd honestly just be wasting your time suspecting him...)

Morpeko then turned her head back to Victor and his group, excitedly staring at the Pokeball in Gloria's hands. The small pokemon smiled as half of her doubt was removed from the pokemon's clarification.

"Cmon, let's bring her out!" Hop cheered.

"I think we should head back ta the surface first." Marnie said as she looked around the darkening cavern they were in. "There's still aye chance a pokemon can come out aroun' here. It happened to me when aye went into one."

"Let's go quick! I wanna meet Pixie!" Gloria cheered, blasting away with clouds of dust behind.

"Kirl!?" Luna quickly ran after her while waving her arms.

"Wait for us!" Hop shouted as he ran too.

"Not nice being left behind, is it Hop!?" Victor laughed as Ace walked next to him, and Marnie scooped up Morpeko into her arms.

Victor was about to follow them, but he caught sight of something that reflected the faintly shining light of the Dynamax den, turning his head curiously and walking towards it.

"What is it?" Marnie asked, noticing he wasn't heading out after their friends.

Victor smiled as he walked a few feet away from her and crouched down.

"Are these...? They are!"

He stood back up and turned to Marnie, holding a black disk in each of his hands.

"Look! TRs!" He beamed with a grin.

Marnie blinked in some surprise. "Really? Which ones?"

Victor glanced down at them. "They're-!"

His smile was instantly wiped, with his pupil's visibly shrinking in a mixture of disbelief and fear.

"Mor?" Morpeko seemed confused while Marnie became concerned.

"Wh-What's wrong?" She asked, noticing his look as she took a step closer to him.

"There's..." Victor's eyes were glued to the disks as he saw a red, dried-up substance that had been visibly splattered on them.

"Blood..."

Both Marnie and Morpeko's own eyes widened, while Ace narrowed his eyes from behind Victor.

"R-Really?"

"Y-Yeah..." Victor stuttered, gulping nervously before turning his head around in the surrounding area. He wasn't looking for anything specific in the cavern, but he still tried looking. With there being blood on the disks, they must've come from... someone. He searched for any other sign of red, or any indication that someone was nearby or had been here, but there was none. All he saw was the deeper path of the cavern that he knew he shouldn't go through.

He was snapped out of his gaze when Marnie gently tugged at his shoulder.

"Y-You alright?" She asked in clear worry.

Victor blinked several before nodding with an uncertain look.

"Er, yeah... It's just that... I'm not really good with blood."

Marnie stared at him in momentary silence.

"I... I think we outta head back."

"..." Victor gazed down at the small, bloodied TRs in his hands, then letting out a sigh. "Yeah..."

The two walked together while Ace glanced back at the deeper part of the den, wondering how the TRs ended up where they were and just what was deeper ahead of the cavern.

_ "Just what happened to whoever lost these?"  _ Victor wondered as he kept his head down.

He and Marnie climbed back up the steep slope to the surface, where they both heard panicked cries and loud sobbing.

_ "What's happening?"  _ Victor quickly rushed out and pulled himself out of the den.

Then immediately deadpanning when he saw the situation.

Gloria's newly caught Togepi, named Pixie, was bawling her eyes out with tears comedically flying out like a fountain. Hop was holding the pokemon in his arms, cradling her like a baby with a distressed look on his face while Gloria ran around in a panic, looking for something to somehow calm her new addition. Nessa was beside Hop as he gently rocked the pokemon, trying to calm the Togepi down with her words. As for their pokemon, Sky was simply sighing on the side while Luna panicked like Gloria, not really knowing what to do.

"Victor! There you are! Help us out!" Hop called to him in desperation.

"Piiiiiiiiii!!!" Togepi cried.

"Wh-What happened!?" Marnie stammered as she crawled up the hole behind Victor, shocked to see the situation.

Gloria stopped running around and turned to them with comedically watery eyes. "I-I don't know! I brought her out her Pokeball to say hi, but then she started cryin'!"

_ "I don't think she took too kindly to being caught..."  _ Victor sighed, putting his backpack down with the two TRs.

"Wh-What should we do?" Marnie stammered, not wanting to see a pokemon so distressed.

"Let me try." Victor said as he opened his backpack. 

He gently moved Tesla aside before digging around and taking out the same container of cookies he would've given the Snorlax earlier.

He stood up and held them forward, giving a reassuring smile in Togepi's direction.

"Hey, you hungry, little fella?

Hearing that, the small Togepi stopped wailing and stared forward at Victor with her eyes still leaking out water.

"P-Pi?"

She then caught sight of the treats and started squirming frantically in Hop's arms while reaching out.

"Pi! Togepi! Pi!"

"Wha-Hey!?" Hop wasn't expecting this and lost his grip on the pokemon, resulting in him dropping Pixie facefirst into the ground.

This didn't seem to faze the pokemon, though, as she quickly stood up and waddled towards Victor, still crying and looking rather desperate.

"Pi! Pi!" She made all the way to him and repeatedly jumped up and down, trying to reach the sweets with her stubby hands but clearly unable to reach them with their large difference of height.

_ "Oh god, that's too cute."  _ Victor thought as flowers of happiness surrounded him.

Snapping out of his daze, he sat down in a cross-legged manner and placed down the container with an amused smile.

"Aw... You're just scared and hungry, aren't you? Sorry, I guess we did just suddenly jump you..."

Togepi didn't seem to be listening as she just tried to pry the container lid with her stubby arms, failing miserably and pouting as more tears came down her eyes.

Victor chuckled and easily took off the lid, to which the Togepi immediately dove in and grabbed cookie after cookie, scarfing them down.

_ "Oh, wow, she must be REALLY hungry..."  _ Victor thought with widened eyes.

The others watched as Pixie stopped crying and just keep eating, earning sighs of relief from everyone else.

"Leave it to Victor to calm a pokemon down..." Hop said as he sat down.

Marnie sat beside Victor, placing her Morpeko down and encouraging her to interact with the Togepi.

"Mor! Mor!" Morpeko scurried next to the pokemon and sat down beside her, giving a happy smile.

"Mmph... Pi?" Pixie mumbled as she swallowed some of her food, turning to Morpeko nervously.

Luna then happily skipped to Pixie and cheered.

"Kirl! Kirl!"

"..." 

Pixie nervously scooted away from them, making Luna turn black and white.

"K-Kirl!?"

She then doubled over on the ground with a comedic spotlight shining on her in depressing darkness.

"Aw... I guess you guys really did spook her." Nessa said, feeling a little bad.

"Sorry about that... Gloria really wanted to catch you, and it wasn't like I could talk her out of it." Victor awkwardly chuckled. "She just really loves cute things."

Gloria couldn't help but pout as her cheeks turned red in embarrassment.

"But she isn't a bad trainer. She'll take good care of you. So you don't have to be scared." Victor continued, trying to reassure the Togepi.

Pixie nervously turned her head to Gloria, who was standing a few feet away to give the pokemon some space. 

"I... I hope we get along... Pixie." Gloria said, trying to sound as gentle as possible, even shaking a bit as she did.

"Pi?"

"That's what she wants to call you. Do you like it?" Victor clarified to the confused pokemon.

Togepi glanced at Gloria, then back to Victor.

"..."

Before just continuing to stuff herself with cookies as if nothing happened.

The group sweatdropped.

"Maybe we should leave her with our other pokemon?" Hop suggested.

"That's a good idea, Hop. New pokemon are always more comfortable with other pokemon since they can ask around about their new trainer." Nessa said with a point.

"Ooo! She's gonna love em'!" Gloria sparkled as she pulled out her Pokeballs and sent out her entire team.

"I guess we can have everyone meet each other now..." Marnie said as she took out her two other Pokeballs, releasing her Croagunk and Scraggy.

"I'm gonna have to heal Conga first..." Hop sighed, recalling what happened to his poor pokemon.

Nessa smiled as she thought about bringing her own pokemon out, only to hear some ominous sounds up in the cloudy and darkening sky.

"It looks like we're expecting some rain... You kids should find somewhere to spend the night before your pokemon get all chummy with one another."

"Eh? Just us? Aren't you gonna stay too?" Victor picked up on her words.

"Well, I got a place to sleep back at my gym. And I didn't really prepare anything for spending a night." Nessa said as she awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "We still got some time, though, so I can hang around and call a Corviknight taxi later."

Hop finished spraying Conga with a potion to heal him up, then gently ushering the pokemon to spend time around all the others gathering around Pixie, who looked rather nervous as she nibbled her food.

"Where should we go, though? I don't exactly want to head back into town already." He said as he stood up.

"How about we camp out in the den?" Victor pointed behind him.

"Nope. Dangerous pokemon always end up going through them one way or another." Nessa threw the idea out. "I think the safest bet is for you guys to find a cave."

"You mean that den?" Victor pointed behind him once again.

"No, again, dangerous pokemon can appear there and attack. I was thinking more about one of the caves around here in the hills. There are actually a few small ones that trainers use to sleep in."

"Really? How do you know?" Hop asked curiously. 

"Hey, remember that I took the Gym Challenge too!" Nessa grinned with her hands on her hips.

"Oh! Then let's get going!" Hop turned to Gloria and Marnie, who were both crouched around the large group of pokemon and trying to make Pixie feel welcome. "Oi! We're gonna find somewhere to stay!"

Gloria turned her head in surprise. "Eh? Already?"

"Just follow me!" Nessa waved to them.

The group quickly packed up their things but left out their pokemon to socialize. Victor scooped up his backpack but froze for a second as he saw the two blood-stained TRs on the ground once more.

"..." 

He picked them up with an unsure look, reading them to himself through the blood. 

_ "Leaf Blade and Substitute... Both are pretty good, but I don't think any of my team can even learn Leaf Blade..." _

"Victor, ya coming!?" Gloria shouted with a wave, the group already moving ahead.

Victor snapped out of his thoughts and glanced up to see his friends already walking ahead.

"Yeah, sorry!" He adjusted his backpack and hurried ahead with Midori running beside him, almost seeming to mimic how his trainer ran.

Victor held the two TRs in each of his hands, passing his friends and heading to the front of the pack where Nessa led them.

"Hey, Nessa!"

"Hm? What is it?" The model turned to him as she kept walking forward.

Victor stopped beside the Gym Leader with the TRs in hand.

"Well..." He brought them up for her to see.

"Oh! You found some TRs in the den! Nice!" Nessa smiled.

For some reason, Victor didn't like how normal that sounded.

"Um... Yeah, but..." He brought them to her closer to show the blood on them.

That made Nessa's smile fade as she noticed that Victor's usually cheerful mood had been dropped in worry from the disks.

"Right... That was your first time in a den..." She muttered.

"Is it normal to find TRs in them? And with... blood?" Victor asked her.

Nessa scratched the back of her head with a sigh.

"I guess it's better if I tell you now... You can say that it isn't 'normal,' but it's not surprising to find them in dens. People go around into dens all the time, Victor. Groups of trainers try to go take down a Dynamax pokemon, but sometimes.. things don't go too well."

Hearing that, Victor gazed down at the blood of the TRs, getting unwelcome chills as Nessa continued.

"Normally, if trainers fail to take down a Dynamaxed pokemon, the pokemon just sends them all out by force, which can hurt the trainers and also cause items from them to fall. So you can usually find TRs and other items in dens behind Dynamaxed pokemon. But depending on the pokemon, there can be more... serious results."

"Do... some people not make it out?" Victor asked, picking up on what she was saying.

Nessa remained silent for a few seconds, which Victor took as an obvious answer.

"Victor... I told you before that the Wild Area is dangerous... I knew you guys would be fine in that Raid Den since the pokemon around here aren't like the ones all the way up north. I mean, that was a Togepi out of everything."

"But why would pokemon really want to... kill humans? Is it because we're the ones bothering them first?"

Nessa had a look of thought, "I said this before, but we don't know for sure... For pokemon in dens, I understand that trainers bother them first, but for pokemon in the Wild Area, it's unclear why many of them are always on the aggressive."

"..."

Victor glanced down at Midori, noticing the pokemon looking down at the ground as he walked. He recalled his pokemon getting in this same mood when asked about the food in the Wild Area.

He glanced forward at the expanding view of the marvelous land, understanding that there were many darker things behind it.

With that, he remained in silence as Midori stepped closer to him, raising a hand and taking Victor's to hold.

Victor glanced down as he felt the contact, forming a small smile despite Midori still keeping his head down.

_ "I guess... There are some things I gotta look out for..." _

The group walked together on their journey, intending to get as much experience as possible for their future battles.

All their pokemon were interacting with one another in some sort of way. Conga and Bubbles were beside one another, chatting away to catch up on their journey so far. 

Both Corvisquires flew in the air while eyeing each other down, respecting each other but also wishing to one-up the other.

Tesla was sleeping on top of Hop's Wooloo, having found another enjoyable place to sleep that wasn't his trainer's bag. Wooloo didn't seem to mind as he happily walked with his group of friends, with Ziggy and Bolt playfully chasing each other around him. 

Scraggy and Croagunk walked with Plush between them, both pokemon finding amusement in watching the Stufful waddle adorably. 

Once again, Luna was within Gloria's bag, peaking out to take occasional glances at Midori with a sad look, noticing the Kirlia look down.

Morpeko was once again getting carried by her trainer, sleeping in her arms for the ride.

And finally, also surprisingly, Ace was walking while angrily blushing red in embarrassment. Beside him was Gloria's new Togepi, Pixie, holding his paw with her stubby hand and happily waddling with him. One way or another, Pixie somehow took an immediate liking to Ace's quiet but cool nature, as everyone else who spoke to her seemed to be a little over eccentric in welcomes, scaring her a bit.

Ace hadn't expected this, and he couldn't exactly say no when the child-like pokemon just took his hand with a precious baby smile on her face. He didn't want her suddenly bursting into tears again and risking getting chewed about by his trainer, so he bit the bullet and just walked with her.

"Pi! Pi!" Togepi happily cheered, getting attention from some of the other pokemon.

Who then all gave Ace smug looks.

A cross-vein formed on Ace's head, and his eye twitched as he tried not to kick a rock to anyone right there.

Victor glanced back at them and smiled when he saw how they were interacting, most notably finding Ace and Pixie to look adorable. Of course, Gloria thought the same thing and was even taking rapid pictures of the two while squealing.

Seeing him smile, Nessa formed her own and wrapped her arm around Victor's shoulder.

"There's a lot for you to learn, Victor. But I know you'll get through everything just fine. The Wild Area is where you change. Your pokemon get stronger, you understand them better, and your instincts are sharpened through every experience you go through. This..."

She waved a hand to present the thousands of miles of land barely seen head.

"This is where the strongest trainers are really made."

Victor knew she was right. He knew that this part of his journey would be where things truly escalate for him. Just ahead, far past the Bridge Field, would be where he would gain the experience he needed to take on anyone.

There was much to see, so much to learn, and so many people to meet.

From a lonely ghost user riding atop his Gengar, finding a place where he can feel like he belongs.

A beautiful fighting warrior determined to take down one of her own pokemon, battling with her Hitmontop while the other five watched.

A flying scientist smiling on his Magnezone, wishing to look into how one boy's pokemon appeared so strong and what did it relate to the boy himself.

A man in a brown coat with his Croagunk, both frowning as they searched the most powerful region for any equally powerful and threatening criminals.

A lone man surrounded by pokemon, his green eyes full of compassion as he was spoken to about another with a gift similar to his, his powerful dragon behind him and narrowing its eyes.

A grinning young woman flew atop her own powerful dragon, a unique stone sparkling on her left ankle as she flew over a brightly shining area of the Wild Area.

And even a woman standing with her Lucario in some mysterious ruins, her pokemon detecting an unnatural and dangerous aura so far in the distance, causing him to narrow his eyes.

So much to look forward to, so many memorable events that our hero doesn't know he'll have yet. So many people to meet and learn from, with many possible encounters in the future. But it didn't matter who or what he'll encounter during his journey.

He was determined to be ready for any of it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Standing still while few jellybean-men chase another with a golden tail.)
> 
> *GASP!* Oh, my, god! I-It's all the villains from before!? Who EVER could've seen that coming?... I mean, I guess if you didn't play Ultra sun or Moon, you wouldn't have known, and I guess I could've gone a different direction of villains, but I just felt like those guys made sense. It should've been obvious that only one man has the right to lead such a dangerous organization, the big man himself. But next on the list of events, Gloria got a cute pokemon! Hooray! And our heroes had their first taste in a Raid Den, with one of them learning that the Wild Area clearly holds more than meets the eye. You ever think why we get items from finishing raids? And anywho, this feels like a season of an anime just ended with what's setting up to come. New threats, new friends, new battles, and a whole lot more experience! Just what will our boy go through when he makes it to the 'meaty' part of the Wild Area? I'm excited about the people I want him to meet, but at the same time, I feel like it'll be so much to write interactions with each of them. But I'll worry about that later, I hope all of you enjoyed the chapter and leave a comment! I really feel like I need the positivity after the shit that was midterms... Man, I don't even know how long the next chapter is gonna be. See you next time trainers!
> 
> (Snatches tail of bean-man passing)
> 
> Announcer: Qualified!
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm way too tired...


	23. A Mutual Agreement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu sitting at a table with three people.)
> 
> And then...
> 
> (Shuffles deck before placing a card down.)
> 
> I play my commander! Kenrith, the Returned King!
> 
> (Animation of Elk transforming into crown occurs.)
> 
> Aha! Noice.
> 
> (Turns head.)
> 
> Oh, hello there. Erm... Yeah, this is what I've been doing for a while. Catching up on an old card game that I haven't been able to play with others since the pandemic. Depressing, but I'm confident that things won't be like this for too long. At least... I hope. Heh. But anyway, I wanted to bring something up before the chapter starts.
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> I'm gonna hold off this fic for a while.
> 
> (The three other players on the table): *GASP!*
> 
> "But why!?"
> 
> "You're doing fine!"
> 
> "You piece of garbage!"
> 
> Yeah, yeah, pfft. I'm not exactly stopping this fic, I'm just gonna prioritize in finishing those damn retypes of my other fic, To Be A Hero. (Check it out if you're a fan of my hero academia and Dekubowls.) But yeah, I'm gonna try to speedrun and catch up with my chapters. And the main reason I wanna catch up to them is...
> 
> I wanna make another fic.
> 
> (Three other players): *GASP!*
> 
> "Another masterpiece!?"
> 
> "Of what series!?"
> 
> "Really? Another harem?"
> 
> Heh, you'll find out down the line. But I NEED to actually catch up with my work on TBAH before that, so that's what I'm going to be trying to get out as many chapters to catch up on where I want to be with it.
> 
> But anyway, I don't wanna take up too much space in the intro, so I'll bring up one more thing that I forgot to bring up last time!
> 
> I'm sure many of you watched the Sword and Shield expansion pass update/direct for the Crowned Tundra (I think it was for that?). And near the end of that direct, I'm sure all of you saw the video...
> 
> THAT video...
> 
> The video that showed me 14 god damn years of my life passing by... The music video at the end was too beautiful and I legit cried, man. I can't post a link to the official video here because of some weird issue with the link, but that video is an anime opening man. It's MY anime opening. It's so beautiful.
> 
> Title:
> 
> "Gotcha" by 'BUMP OF CHICKEN' (Heh, funny name.)
> 
> Check it out if you haven't. It's beautiful.
> 
> And also check out this guy's English cover of the full song! It's just as amazing! This is basically my fic's anime opening! It's PERFECT! (For some reason, I can post THIS link but not the other, weird.)
> 
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDpPmFIhQho&ab_channel=SilverStorm
> 
> But that's enough for the intro, we'll talk more after we discover what sort of trouble Victor brings himself into this time!
> 
> (Gets back to the game and sees a card played.)
> 
> Did... Did you just play a Rhystic Study? You god damn degenerate.

** ~{Bridge Field-7:23PM}~ **

Dark clouds covered the sky, clouds even blacker than earlier in the day. It was a clear sign that something was going to arrive, something dangerous. Despite this, Victor and his friends remained together on a picnic blanket. And just to the side of their seating was a small campfire under a curry pot. 

Gloria and Victor themselves were the ones currently cooking curry for dinner, both working hard with smiles on their faces in hopes of creating a good meal. Everyones' pokemon were free from their pokeballs to either frolic about or remain seated around their trainers. This included a sighing Ace, who currently had a peacefully sleeping Pixie laying against him.

"You guys almost done!?" Hop asked as he drooled with stars in his eyes.

"That's the fifth time ya asked! Sit ya pants down and shut it! We'll be done in a wee bit!" Gloria snapped at the boy while stirring the pot of curry.

"That really does smell good... so I can see why he's so excited. It's amazing how well you kids can cook." Nessa smiled as her Drednaw, the only female on her team, laid next to her. And like her Drednaw, the rest of her pokemon had also been released.

Her Golisopod, a large arthropod pokemon with armored plating around him, was hunched over and staring down at Victor's sleeping Charjabug. The menacing figure narrowed his eyes in doubt that this small creature was the one who took down his trainer's Drednaw, even if her moveset was restricted due to the Gym rules.

Nessa's Pelipper, a white and blue pelican pokemon with a large yellow beak, was planted on the ground with both Twilight and Sky beside him, the birds curiously eyeing the bird of the Gym Leader.

Her Barraskewda, a long fish-like pokemon with an underbite, was swimming in a lake a few feet away from everyone, happily swimming around as Bubbles joined him in apparently trying to race, failing miserably against the blazing swimming fish.

There was then Nessa's friendly Quagsire, a light blue, bipedal, and amphibious pokemon with tiny black eyes and a wide mouth. He was sitting on the grass with his usual derpy smile, getting confused looks from those like Luna or Thwackey as to why he looked so... blank.

And finally, there was Toxapex. A relatively small-bodied pokemon but with large, spiked, and blue star-fish like tentacles to form a large dome around him. He had the two front tentacles up to reveal his moody-looking face, giving an impression that he didn't care about the others around him. Despite this, he appeared to be chatting with Ace, the rabbit pokemon careful not to wake the sleeping child-like Togepi leaning against him.

"I really like your team, Nessa!" Victor smiled as he dumped some more chopped carrots into the cauldron of curry. "Your Golisopod looks so cool, and he always took care of Grass-types pretty well."

The Gym Leader's Golisopod examined Tesla in his large palm before turning his head to the trainer who mentioned him, which was then Victor noticed him carrying his Charjabug.

_ "Is he curious about Tesla?"  _

Nessa smiled at Victor's remark about her pokemon and pet her Drednaw's head. "Yup, they're all my precious babies! Although Gym Leaders have an overall typing they prefer on their pokemon, we still know how to make up for our other weaknesses. Take Quagsire and Pelipper over there, for example."

"Pelipper's flyin' type helps to do something against grass-types, and ye Quagsire can take on electric-types..." Marnie muttered.

"Of course you've mastered type advantages." Hop chuckled.

_ "Why does hearing him say that suddenly annoy me?"  _ Gloria deadpanned as she continued stirring the pot of curry.

"Too bad Raihan's damn dragon types make me want to tear my hair out..." Nessa sighed with a twitching eye.

"Yeah, dragon types really are one of the hardest types to deal with... Oh, hey! Curry's done!" Victor cheered.

Tesla opened his eyes with a flash of red in them, the pokemon vanishing from Golisopod's hand and appearing next to Victor.

"Charja! Charja!"

"G-Gol!?" Golisopod blinked as he stared down into his hand where Tesla had been a second ago, doing a double-take.

The rest of the pokemon stopped what they were doing with their own eyes flashing in interest at food, even Nessa's professional team.

Victor could already sense the tension as to who would get their food first, making him pout.

"Keep in mind that we only have enough to serve about half of you for now. But I  _ don't  _ want anyone fighting!" He firmly said with a lifted finger before anyone could do anything. 

"We're giving the youngest ones first!" He declared.

Tesla seemed to frown at this news before turning around and squirming away in minor annoyance.

_ "Actually, how old are my pokemon?"  _ Victor wondered when he saw Tesla squirm towards the back of the group.

Victor and Gloria then started serving the smaller pokemon their plates of curry, all of them humming in bliss as some used utensils to eat while others shoved their faces in.

As the two trainers started to make another batch of curry, a grinning scientist stared down at them from the edge of the Motostoke bridge. Colress projected a screen on his wrist that zoomed upon the group as he recorded his notes aloud.

"Hm, it's apparent that subject V-49 isn't experiencing any effects of Dynamaxing compared to what we've seen in earlier footage. So the negative effects he experiences from Dynamaxing don't linger too long after completing any pokemon battles. I won't have any definite ideas about what Dynamaxing is doing to him unless I ask directly. Perhaps I can even take a sample for my studies? I do already have a few vague theories as to how Dynamax energy is changing the boy's body..."

Colress's Magnezone awkwardly floated beside his trainer as several people passing the bridge admired the Magnet Area pokemon. After all, he wasn't a pokemon you would ever see in the main areas of the Galar region. But he paid no mind to these people and simply listened to the scientist ramble while expertly typing away on his arm, eyes sparkling in interest as he watched Victor through his projected screen.

Magnezone turned his head and glanced down in the same direction as his trainer, eyes zoning in on Victor specifically. From a glance, he didn't notice anything interesting about the boy, but he knew he was anything but normal.

"Come on, Magnezone! Let us make haste and finally get answers on our interesting subject!" 

"Mag?"

Magnezone turned to his trainer just in time to see him jump onto the bridge railing, making a few passing people gasp.

"MAG!?!" Magnezone was quick to point one of its magnets to Colress and activate it. The metal materials around Colress, most notably the metal around his wrist's keyboard, were enough to suddenly yanked him back.

"Oh, my word?" Colress looked rather unfazed by the ordeal, simply smiling as his arm stayed stuck to his pokemon. "What's wrong, Magnezone?"

"Mag! Mag!" The three eyes of Magnezone seemed to frown as he released the magnetic pull from his trainer.

"Oh? Could it be that you don't want me to simply dive down there? But what reason could there for that? I assumed you'd simply hover me down." Colress asked.

"Mag! Zone!" Magnezone floated over the edge of the railing and used one of his magnets to point the best he could at the group below.

"Oh, forgive me, my loyal pokemon, but I can't understand what you're trying to tell me, no matter how familiar you are with me!" Colress innocently smiled. "This scenario and your actions can have several messages behind it, and I'm afraid I won't be able to conclude what is it you're trying to tell me without evidence or clearer details!"

Magnezone had a deadpanned expression as he floated in place, his three eyes then closing as he tilted his body down in a sigh. Seeing this wasn't going anywhere, he turned around and started hovering down towards the group below.

"Oh? Is he going to fetch him for me? How thoughtful!" Colress laughed as he got back to typing on the keyboard on his wrist. "It appears that my own pokemon has lost patience with me once again! How peculiar!"

Magnezone had unamused half-open eyelids as he hovered down towards the group, with Victor and Gloria already finishing their second batch of curry and were already distributing the meal to the rest of the pokemon.

Of course, with a pokemon clearly flying towards them, many of the group noticed him and turned their heads with looks varying from curiosity to suspicion.

The trainers beside Gloria and Victor were eating their food happily with sparkles in their eyes, not noticing the pokemon yet.

"Mmph! Mmph!" Nessa squealed as she swallowed her curry. "This is too delicious!"

Hop scarfed down his food while Marnie's own eyes sparkled as she took another spoonful of curry, both nodding in agreement.

Gloria started to serve her own plate with a happy hum before noticing an out-of-place figure coming towards them, making her turn her head with her eyes widening.

"Eh? Ain't that a Magnezone?"

Hearing that, Hop choked on his food and started repeatedly coughing.

Everyone stopped their eating and glanced up in surprise. Victor himself had just given Ace his own plate when he heard Gloria's claim, making him turned his head at the steel pokemon coming.

_ "Hold on, those aren't native to the main part of Galar. Why is one here?" _

Magnezone felt nervous as he felt the gazes of everyone on him, yet he still carried on all the way to the boy.

Nessa smiled as she admired the Magnezon float by, "Wow, I rarely ever see any Magnezone. Not even in the league."

"But... What's it doing here?" Marnie muttered aloud as she took another spoonful of curry while keeping her gaze on the pokemon.

Her question was answered as the pokemon stopped in front of Victor, clearly having some business with him.

"Eh?" Victor blinked in confusion as the Magnezone's three eyes stared at him.

_ "Wait, if he came to me specifically... Did he hear about 'that' part of me?" _

"Heh, it looks like he's interested in you!" Hop laughed.

Magnezone floated in place for a few seconds with his eye focused on Victor, being only a foot away from him.

Victor felt awkward with the silence and cleared his throat, then putting on a smile.

"Er... Hello there!" He reached forward and gently pat Magnezone on the head. "Did you come for some curry?"

Magnezone just sighed.

"Mag..." (Sorry about this...)

_ "Eh?"  _ Victor blinked in confusion.

In the next moment, Magnezone suddenly zoomed to Victor's legs and scooped him off the ground.

"Wha-!?!" Victor was surprised to land on top of Magnezone and was suddenly raised into the sky.

"WHOA!" Seeing the increase of elevation, Victor reached out and held onto the antenna in the center of Magnezone's head so he wouldn't fall.

"VICTOR!?!" Gloria's eyes widened in horror to see her friend taken.

"Thwakey, Razor Leaf!" Hop immediately jumped up.

"No! You could hit Victor!" Nessa stopped him, then lifting her hand up. "Pelipper! Go with both Corvisquires after him!"

"Cor!/Pel!" All three flying types quickly flapped their wings and soared into the sky after Victor.

Gloria had a menacing aura of murder as she pointed up. "Luna, Midori! Hitch a ride and get that stealin' SON OF A-!"

"Kirl!" Both Kirlia's shouted before she finished, teleporting onto the flying types to go up with them.

Magnezone was sweating nervously as he saw his life flash before his eyes, quickly hovering up towards the Motostoke bridge with Victor on top. He honestly didn't want to do things the way he did, but he had to separate Victor to communicate with his trainer. This was the simplest, if not the riskiest, action to take.

"Hey!? What gives!?" Victor shouted over the wind pushing against him. He used one hand to hold onto his beanie while the other kept a tight grip on the kidnapping pokemon's antenna.

"Mag! Zone!"

"Huh!?"

"Mag! Magnezone!" The pokemon frantically shouted.

Victor's eyes widened.

_ "He needs me to... meet someone? To talk about... WHAT I am?" _

His expression turned rather serious and dark, contrasting with his eyes unnaturally glowing.

"Fine... Let's 'talk.'"

Colress stood behind the railing as he watched his subject get carried to him, smiling excitedly despite the persuing pokemon close behind.

Victor caught sight of the man staring at him in the distance, the boy glaring back at the out-of-place scientist. He pulled himself up to crouch on top of Magnezone and waited as he neared the bridge, then leaping off and landing with a small slide on the solid ground of the brick bridge.

Both humans were a few feet away from each other as Magnezone quickly hovered next to his trainer, hiding behind him.

Victor noticed the sparkling in Colress's eyes and already felt uneasy about him, staring suspiciously and keeping a cautious stance.

"Okay... So who are-?"

Colress didn't waste a second and appeared right in front of Victor in a flash, grabbing the boy's hand with both his own to perform an energetic handshake.

"Subject V-49! It's so good to finally meet you!"

Victor was taken aback by the man's genuinely welcoming tone, blinking several times with a new look of confusion. "Wha-?"

He didn't get to say anything as Colress had suddenly pulled up Victor's sleeve and was now feeling his arm with both hands.

"A good physique for a young boy, no doubt due to training to adjust to your superhuman abilities." Colress's glasses flashed in interest.

Victor flinched at the sudden close contact and pulled his arm away. "Hey-!"

Colress just moved on to grab both of the boy's cheeks to turn his head to him, staring into his brown eyes.

"No sign of any stress or lingering Dynamax energy." He rambled. "Nor any sign of physical backlash either, unless there are marks hidden underneath your clothing-"

Alarms went through Victor's head after hearing that implication.

He swatted Colress's hands away.

"Whoa, no touchy!" 

He backed up with his own hands in a karate-chopping stance, a stern look on his face. 

"Nooooo touchy! No touch!" 

"Cor!"

"Kirl!"

Victor looked up to see Twilight and Sky arrive with Luna and Midori on them. Nessa's Pelipper led the group, looking rather hostile and ready for action. Upon seeing them, Magnezone flinched and kept even closer to Colress in case something happened.

"Ooo! Are all of these your pokemon? I recognize your Corvisquire and Kirlia, but there's another pair of the two? And there's even a Pelipper mixed with them?" Colress stared as he typed this information onto his wrist.

He didn't even seem to mind their dangerous auras and simply turned back to Victor.

"So subject V-49, I've come to ask you to comply with my research involving yourself as the subject matter! I admit that I haven't been interested in you when I first heard of your pokemon abil-!"

"GAH!" Victor panicked upon the mention of himself, as people were passing by, and instinctively uppercut Colress under his chin, sending him flying upward into a spiral.

The pokemon and walking passersby all had their eyes widen in shock as the scientist's body crashed on his back, comedically kicking up dust.

_ "Crap! I reacted like Gloria!" _ Victor realized as he started sweating.

The pokemon had blank faces as they perched onto the railing, both Kirlia's jumping off with similar gazes. After seeing that sudden punch and how nervous the Magnezone from earlier became, they wondered if Victor even needed help.

"M-Mag! Magnezone!" The magnet area pokemon hovered up to Victor.

"Just hear him out!? Why!? Who even is he!? And why do you both know who I am!?" Victor loudly whispered to him, trying not to raise his voice as people passed.

The two then heard creepy laughter coming from the ground and turned to see Colress shakily picking himself up with a satisfied smile.

"That's... That's definitely supernatural strength... How marvelous..."

Victor stared at the man before letting out a sigh and rubbing his temples.

_ "I have no idea what's going on... He doesn't give off the feeling of a 'bad' guy, but it's clear there's something off about him..." _

He turned to the pokemon group that came for him, who were currently staring at him as if waiting for instructions.

"Um... You guys can head on back. I think I'll be alright. I don't even think this guy would try anything with people around..." Victor reassured them.

The pokemon simply stared back with unconvinced looks, knowing it would be foolish to simply leave Victor alone with a person who basically kidnapped him.

Victor realized what their looks were saying and sighed again.

"Fine... Midori, Twilight, you both stay with me. The rest of you just go back. This guy..."

Victor and the pokemon turned to see Magnezone helping a creepily giggling Colress up.

"...seems harmless?"

The pokemon didn't seem much more convinced but nodded anyway as Midori kept close to Victor while Twilight remained perched on the railing. Luna turned to Midori with a worried look, but the male Kirlia turned back to her with a simple smile to reassure her. Luna reluctantly teleported back onto Sky before the two and Pelipper took off back to their trainers.

"Okay... So back to what I  _ meant _ to ask you first..." Victor started, turning back to Colress with a serious gaze. "Who. Are. You?"

Colress dusted himself off and adjusted his glasses once more, keeping a composed stance and smiling despite the mark under his chin.

"Ah, it appears I let my excitement get the better of me. Allow me to formally introduce myself." He put an arm across his chest and politely bowed with his eyes closed. "I'm Colress, leading pokemon researcher for Team Rainbow Rocket. Once again, it's a pleasure to meet you, subject V-49!"

Victor blinked several times as he processed the information the man bluntly admitted without too much of a care. He turned left and right to see if anyone had heard, only to realize that the previous passerbys had left by now, leaving them alone on the bridge.

Victor then turned to Colress while keeping a blank expression, slowly pulling out his Rotom phone and raising it to his ear.

"I would appreciate it if you'd hear me out first before making any rash decisions." Colress innocently smiled.

"Magnezone! Mag!" Magnone quickly floated beside Victor and repeatedly tilted his body up and down as if pleading to him.

Victor stared suspiciously at them, still holding his phone in hand.

"Okay..."

*Vrrrrrrr! Vrrrrrrr!*

Victor flinched as his phone suddenly started to vibrate, to which he became nervous to see Gloria's name on the screen.

_ "Ooooooh boy..." _

He raised it his ear and used his other arm to point at Colress.

"Give me a minute, don't go doing any evil stuff!"

"But of course." Colress smiled as he stood in place.

Victor turned his back to him but repeatedly glanced back to make sure Colress wouldn't do anything, then answering the call.

"Hey, Glor-"

* _ VICTOR!!! _ *

The boy pulled away from his phone as he comedically gripped onto his beanie, the item nearly sent flying from the explosion of force that came from the shouting.

* _ Are ya alright!? What the bloody hell happened!? Why did our pokemon come back without you!? Are-! _ *

* _ Gloria, rampaging him with questions won't help! _ * Victor heard Nessa in the background.

* _ You alright, Victor? What was all that? _ * Hop's voice cut in.

Victor cautiously brought his phone back to his ear as he once again glanced back to Colress, who hadn't moved from his spot and was still keeping the same smile as before.

"I'm actually kinda confused myself... But apparently, this guy just wanted to talk to me."

* _ So he sent a bloody pokemon to kidnap ya!?! I'm coming up there to rip off his *bzzzt* and shove it up his *bzzzt*!!!" _

Victor blinked in confusion. "Er... I didn't quite catch that. What'd you say?"

* _ N-Nothing! She said nothing! _ * Hop's voice sounded panicked and was followed by the sound of struggling, with an additional, * _ Let me go! _ * being heard from Gloria.

"Um..." Victor deadpanned. "You guys good?"

* _ Y-Yeah, everything's fine! _ * Hop said, being the one on the phone now. __ * _ We just kinda had to... 'calm' Gloria down a bit. We're trying to use Wooloo and her pokemon to cuddle her up. But anyway, so someone just wanted to talk to you? Are you really sure about that? _ *

"I mean..." Victor glanced back at Colress again, the man still not having moved from his spot with the same expression he's been holding up.

_ "Okay, that's starting to get a little creepy..." _

"Yeah, I'll be fine. He's polite, at least. You guys can't really get up here, and I've already got Midori and Twilight with me anyway. I'll head back down soon. Just enjoy your curry before it gets cold."

* _ Hm, but are you sure- AH! Tesla! That's my plate! Get away from-! _ *

The call then cut off, leaving Victor mildly surprised before shrugging and putting away his phone.

He turned back to the still waiting Colress.

"May I speak now?" Colress asked with a raised finger.

"..." Victor narrowed his eyes at him. "You may-"

"So, as I've said before-!" Colress abruptly interrupted,"-I'm Colress, the leading pokemon researcher of Team Rainbow Rocket!  _ But- _ !" 

He showed a white grin.

"I'm only in Rainbow Rocket for personal reasons."

Victor raised an eyebrow as Colress clapped his hands together.

"You see, my dear superhuman friend, I only have one goal in participating with such a despicable group! And that is to discover how to bring out the true strength of pokemon!"

He put his hands behind his back as his gaze became focused on Victor's eyes.

"I don't care for any such plots that the organization may have, and I actually despise most of them, one more notably from the rest. But they have the resources that allow me to conduct my research, so I'm only complying with them for it! So I'm confident to say that I'm not your enemy, subject V-49."

Colress then kept silent as he stared directly at Victor, seeming to let him speak about what he heard.

Victor frowned as he lifted a finger.

"Okay... First of all, my name isn't V-49... It's Victor.  _ Vic- _ tor! Got it?"

"Understood, subject Victor." Colress politely nodded.

"Just, Victor!"

Victor then crossed his arms.

"And second of all... Even if you  _ are  _ telling the truth, should you really be admitting your opposition to your own organization when they're probably listening right now? And what do you want with me if it's not to try and bring me in? And  _ why _ should I believe anything you say?"

"Oh, you don't have to worry about anyone listening in! Oh, except that man that'll be walking by us in a few seconds."

Victor and Colress turned to a normal man cheerfully walking by them. Only, he started to sweat nervously with growing discomfort at the stares of both males, feeling as if they were expecting him to do something. He sped up his pace across the bridge and made his way towards Motostoke, hoping they wouldn't go after him.

Once he was clearly out of earshot, Colress turned back to Victor.

" _ Now _ we don't have anyone to worry about listening to our conversation. Rainbow Rocket's abilities to listen are clearly limited in many areas, including here. We're in the middle of a clear bridge with nowhere they can go to effectively listen to us without being seen. Even if they somehow get under the bridge, they wouldn't be able to hear our conversation up here. So I'm not worried about being reported for my words."

Colress then brought up his left arm and started typing on the keyboard on his wrist.

"And as for what I want with you, Victor, I believe I mentioned it already!" He projected a screen from his wrist that showed clips of the three Gym Trainer battles Victor had completed so far. "My goal is to simply discover how to bring out the true strength of all pokemon!"

Victor stared at the screen with a look of confusion.

"But... what does that have to do with me? I don't really see how  _ I _ connect to bringing out a pokemon's strength?"

Colress turned off the projection and glanced down at Midori, who was holding the pants of Victor's leg while suspiciously staring at the man. He then turned to Twilight, who threateningly narrowed his eyes at him before finally turning back to Victor.

"I've watched your battles against powerful Gym Leaders so far! I've seen you confidently lead your pokemon without worry and simply obliterate gyms without too much trouble! I know that the pokemon in gyms are severely different than official league teams, but they're still controlled by powerful trainers and are still powerful pokemon nonetheless! Some of your pokemon even took out two opponents before finally getting knocked down! I can see that your pokemon are already stronger than I would expect in a normal trainer, and I wish to see if your superhuman abilities are the cause of it! If your powers can actually  _ cause _ a pokemon to become stronger! So I wish to keep close inspection of you to discover how they're being influenced!" Colress rambled in excitement.

Victor had a deadpanned expression at what he was hearing, Midori having the same look while Twilight looked uninterested at what the scientist said.

"Um... Sorry to crush your hopes, but my pokemon don't get any boost from me or my... 'abilities.' All the fighting they've done was from us working together, nothing else."

" _ Even _ then-!" Colress said without any of his interest diminished, "Your pokemon have clearly proven themselves to be stronger than the average trainer's pokemon already! How long have you known them?"

That had Victor put a hand to his chin and think.

"Er... It varies with each one. My starter, Ace, about a week, and the others for just a few days since starting my Gym Challenge."

"How marvelous!" Colress blurted out with his arms open. "Despite not being familiar with them for too long, you've worked with them on such a professional level! And even if your supernatural abilities have nothing to do with that, of course, as a man of science, I'd still want to study you just to discover what is it about you that brings out such strength from your pokemon! I find it fair for both of us!"

Victor narrowed his eyes. "Fair?"

Colress started rubbing his hands together in excitement. "Of course! I get to satisfy my curiosity and discover what it is that truly makes a pokemon powerful, and I can help you discover just what's happening to your body."

Victor flinched and instinctively backed up, holding his beating heart as a drop of sweat went down the side of his head.

"So you even saw-?"

"Dynamax Energy is outstanding, isn't it?" Colress sighed in joy, making Victor confirm what the scientist hinted at. "Energy that allows pokemon to achieve a higher level of power. We know what Dynamax Energy does to a normal pokemon, and we know it doesn't affect humans besides some boost in vitality from Dynamax meals. But for someone who's a part of  _ both _ sides..."

His smile almost looked as if it was turning smug.

"We don't know what it's doing to such a person."

Victor's eyes narrowed on him, Midori frowned as he stepped in front of Victor, and Twilight emitted some threatening clicks from his mouth.

"I'm sure you would like to know, as would I." Colress spoke with sincerity, his smile unfaltering. "You may not trust me, Victor, but believe me when I say I'm only acting out of my own interests. Don't think I'm expecting anything enormous out of you. All I'm asking is to allow me to observe you on your journey, even from afar. That, and..."

Colress innocently smiled as he raised his hand, to which a small, empty vial of the sort appeared.

"Some blood."

Victor was suddenly in a fighting position, eyes dilating at what Colress implied.

"AS IF!" His increase of volume startled Midori and Twilight, the boy sounding as if he would fight tooth and nail to make sure the man didn't get  _ anything  _ from him. "Why the hell would I give you what you'd need to make  _ more _ of me!?!"

Colress just let out a laugh. "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Victor! A blood sample isn't nearly enough to successfully or effectively make a clone of someone. There would be much more required from bone to tissue samples. The world hasn't even gone through any breakthroughs in cloning humans yet! And even if making a clone of you was successful, there would no doubt be many health problems in them that would defeat the purpose of making the 'perfect' soldiers Rainbow Rocket wishes."

Victor just kept frowning.

"Even then, Rainbow Rocket could still use my blood to recreate... everything.  _ Everything _ from those years ago... All the others that were with me... I saw them gone one by one, never understanding where they went, what was happening,  _ why  _ it was all happening until I was finally gone."

His eyes suddenly lost all color in them as he stared at Colress with a dangerous aura of pressure.

"I'll be  _ damned _ if I let something like that happen again."

Colress's Magnezone, Midori, and Twilight all felt chills as they felt the influence Victor gave off all around him.

"How... intriguing." Colress grin had faltered for a second when he felt a chill, but his smile quickly returned. "You truly are amazing."

He put a hand under his chin and cleared his throat.

"Victor, once again, it's not as easy as simply acquiring some blood for Team Rainbow Rocket to repeat the process all over again. I don't even know what types of actions they took to create you in the first place, as I wasn't part of the team who created you. But know that I don't have any malicious intent towards you. I simply wish to assist you while satisfying my own desires, to comprehend and discover exactly how your body is adjusting to your abilities. To discover how you, whether your powers or your own humanity, are influencing strength in not only your pokemon, but others.

Victor kept his cold gaze as Colress continued.

"All the information I discover, I will, of course, share it with you. However, this also means I'll have to share it with the high-ups of Rainbow Rocket as well. And I may even be able to supply you with information back about the organization! I've noticed the pain you've felt when Dynamaxing, and it's clearly been getting worse with every gym battle. What if the next time you choose to Dynamax... something else occurs? Something you can't control?"

Victor slowly stood up straight but kept his head down with shadowed eyes.

Colress adjusted his glasses with a reassuring look, "You don't have to consider me an ally, but I don't want you to considered me an adversary. I simply wish for the two of us to have a mutual exchange. We both get to dive deeper into what's occurring to you, and we may find a solution to fix the problem and perhaps go even further beyond that."

Victor still had his head down, but the pressure of the aura around him dwindled.

"I'm sure you don't have too many people you can turn to for such a problem, so what do you say?" Colress finished confidentially.

The only sound following his words was the gentle breeze passing through the group as the dark clouds moved overhead. Magnezone was nervously shaking as he hoped that things would end well while Victor's two pokemon waited patiently for their trainer to make the call.

As Victor looked up, the color returned to his eyes despite still having his serious expression.

"Fine."

Colress's eyes sparkled.

"But-!"

Victor marched up and grabbed the taller man by the collar, pulling him close.

"You'd  _ better _ stay out of sight. I don't need anyone reporting that an adult is stalking a minor. You can only come to talk to me when I'm alone. And if I ever feel like you're up to something, I won't  _ hesitate _ to send you ten feet into the ground."

Colress simply chuckled at the threat as Victor let him go with a push.

"Here's to a healthy and mutual relationship!" The scientist cheered as he opened his arms and looked up into the sky.

Magnezone levitated next to Victor while Colress self-celebrated.

"Mag, zone. Magnezone..." (I know you doubt him, but he won't try anything... He's too self-absorbed in his... studies.)

"I'll keep that in mind..." Victor sighed, not exactly convinced.

"Now, let us start the first step to our cooperation with one another!" Colress pulled out the empty vial once again along with a syringe.

"Do you really need my blood!?!" Victor asked as he instinctively took a step back.

"But of course! I must see how Dynamax energy has already affected your DNA so far."

"Ugh..." Victor seemed to not like needles. "Wouldn't you give Rainbow Rocket that as well?"

"Not exactly. As of now, and mentioning it for the third time, I'm technically the leading researcher for Rainbow Rocket. There isn't anyone else that needs this supplement because I need it to discover what kind of changes you're going through. I'm also supposed to do what I can to repeat the process that gave you your superhuman abilities, which I will, of course,  _ have _ to work on, but as I've also said, getting blood isn't enough for that. For me to get even close to recreating another specimen such as yourself, I need much more information that requires your presence with equipment at the Rainbow Rocket base, which I know you wouldn't cooperate with. And not to mention I would actually  _ encourage _ you to avoid getting taken there!"

_ "This guy talks a lot."  _ Victor thought as he blinked.

The boy gulped down air and reluctantly walked forward while pulling his sleeve all the way up. "At least do it on my shoulder. I don't want my friends to notice any marks."

Colress took his arm as he got the vial ready. "It'll be harder to extract from the shoulder, and you'll most likely feel more discomfort."

"Don't really care."

"Then thank you for your contribution!" Colress cheered.

Victor nervously shivered as Colress got a cotton swab and rubbed some alcohol on his shoulder. He then kept his eyes stuck as he watched the needle go into him. He flinched as he watched his very essence getting sucked out, making him turn pale, yet didn't take his eyes away as dark red filled the vial Colress held.

_ "I hate it, I hate it, I hate it, I absolutely hate it."  _ He repeated over and over again.

Colress filled the vial and pulled the needle out of Victor, then providing another cotton swab and bandage to gently put on top of the marked area.

"It supposedly gives a worse feeling when you're watching it happen." Colress told him as he capped the vial and examined it.

"But I need to know the timing when a needle is getting stuck into me!" Victor shivered as he pulled his arm back and rubbed the bandage.

"I suppose, but now I can finally make some progress!" Colress beamed as he proudly held the vial in the air.

"Don't just show that off..." Victor grumbled as he glanced around to make sure no one was walking by.

Colress quickly slipped the vial into his shirt pocket and politely bowed.

"Thank you, subject Victor! I'll make sure you benefit from this as much as I will!"

"Wait, so what are you going to do now?" Victor asked him.

Colress stood up straight and rubbed his chin, "I was going to ask you several questions involving yourself, your abilities, and your experiences, but I think we shall leave that for another time after I analyze this sample."

He turned his head left to the dark clouds still gathering up.

"The weather is changing quickly, and I don't wish to be around when it... 'escalates.' Not to mention your acquaintances may end up taking action if you're not back soon. So I'll save my questions for the occasion that you're alone again." 

He turned back to Victor. 

"But until then, I suggest you avoid Dynamaxing. Until we meet again, young trainer."

"Wait!" Victor said before Colress could turn away, looking more concerned now. "Colress... right?"

"The one and only." The scientist smiled.

"Well... Since you're going to ask me things, I want to ask  _ you _ things as well."

"May I answer your questions another time?"

"Then let me ask just one." Victor once again had a rather cold expression to him as the air tensed up around him.

Colress sensed how serious it was and kept his attention to him, his smile faltering.

"Alright. Ask away."

Victor closed his eyes and took a deep breath, then opening them and asking.

"Do you know who killed my dad?"

Midori and Twilight felt chills at how demanding Victor sounded.

Colress stared at Victor with a somewhat emotionless expression, the wind gently blowing his hair.

"Ah... The professor..." He adjusted his glasses, not keeping his eyes away. "I'm sorry to say that since I wasn't with the team that worked with him, I hardly interacted with him. So I don't have any clue as to who's responsible for his death."

Victor looked down, eyes looking empty, almost desperate.

"Then... can you tell me who is the Rainbow Rocket leader?"

There was a moment of silence before Colress looked down and started typing onto his keyboard.

"If I were to report that kind of information, my risk of death would be imminent. I'm checked weekly for any signs of treason, and they'll no doubt discover if I gave away any names." Colress immediately responded. "Pokemon really are frightening as they are amazing..."

"..."

Victor turned his back to him.

"Thanks anyway..."

Colress formed a small smile as he turned to Magnezone and nodded, cueing the pokemon to move closer to Victor.

"My Magnezone will take you back. I'm sure your companions have waited for you long enough."

Victor turned his somewhat downed eyes to the Magnezone hovering low for the boy to climb. Victor dishearteningly climbed on top of him with Midori jumping onto his lap, glancing up at his trainer with worried eyes.

"Kirl... Kirl?"

"I'm fine, I just... I don't like thinking about it, but I feel like I have to know." He then turned his head to Colress with a stern glare. "And don't get me wrong, Colress, I don't trust you."

"As expected. But I hope you'll trust me to get results. Till we meet again, subject Victor."

Magnezone then took off over the bridge as Colress heard, "It's  _ JUST _ , Victor!"

Colress simply grinned as he watched the boy getting taken back, letting out a pleased sigh.

"He claims he doesn't trust me, but it's clear he's the type that doesn't like to think badly of people. We'll work just fine."

As Victor got carried downward, he rubbed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing that he had to change his composure before he got back to his friends.

"Kirl?" Midori nudged him as Twilight flew close.

"I'm okay... I don't really think I could've refused him. There isn't really another way I could figure out what's happening to me..."

"Cor?" Twilight chirped.

"Professor Magnolia? No..." Victor shook his head in disapproval. "That'd be bringing her into danger. They'll hurt whoever isn't meant to know about me. So... This is all I can do for now. I just hope he's not as bad as he seems..."

"Mag..."

"No offense, but I don't really think I could take the word of someone who kidnapped me." Victor said as he glanced down at the Magnezone carrying him, causing the pokemon to flinch and apologize.

It didn't take long before they came close enough for their friends to see, who were all actually packing the picnic up.

"VICTOR!!"

The boy saw Gloria jumping up and down while waving her arms, visibly happy to see him.

The group had their pokemon still out, who were all gazing up at the boy coming down to them.

Victor himself immediately cheered up just seeing them, even leaping off Magnezone before they got close enough to the ground.

"Hey, guys!" He happily shouted before landing on the ground in a crouching fashion.

Midori landed right beside him in the same stance, then getting up simultaneously as Victor with a happy smile while Twilight fluttered to the ground.

Gloria immediately burst forward towards the Magnezone with fire in her eyes.

"IM'A MELT YA INTO A DAMN POT!"

Magnezone turned blue in fear and immediately fled into the sky at blurring speeds.

"GET BACK HERE YA-!"

"Just gonna stop this before she even says the implications."

Victor appeared in front of Gloria with his arms open, and she crashed into him.

"Wha-!?!"

"Shhhh..." Victor kept one arm holding the girl while the other had already removed her bonnet and started to gently pat her head.

"O-Oi! H-He's gettin' away-!"

"Let him be. It's okay." Victor calmly answered despite Gloria struggling in his arms.

"B-But he-!"

"He only wanted me to talk to someone, and I'm fine. No need to... 'melt' him. Okay?"

"O...Okay..."

The others watched as Gloria practically melted in Victor's arms, the girl turning completely red as she was now pouting.

_ "That's so cute..."  _ Nessa giggled.

_ "I've only been hugged like that from Piers... Is it comfier if someone else did it?"  _ Marnie wondered with a light blush despite her emotionless gaze.

"Hey, Victor! What did that guy want from you?" Hop asked, the only one not staring due to having already seen this sight many times before.

Victor turned to him with a reassuring smile.

"He was interested in me because he watched my gym battles. I guess you could call him a fan. Heh, I'm becoming pretty famous, heh."

"But to suddenly use a Magnezone to kidnap ya? Ain't that goin' a little too far?" Marnie asked aloud.

"Heh, you could say he didn't wanna be overwhelmed if he came here, so he just zipped me away." Victor chuckled.

"Victor, that's not something you should really laugh about. It's still considered abduction." Nessa said as she walked over to him with a stern look on her face.

"I'm fine, Nessa. Let's just-"

A sudden flash occurred in the sky and made the group flinch, to which everyone looked up to see the dark clouds.

"Wait... Was that-?"

** *BOOM!!* **

The sound of thunder cracked the sky in an ear-splitting boom.

"KYAH!" Someone shrieked as more flashes of light occurred, followed by more cracks of thunder.

Nearly all the pokemon jumped and started running around in panic.

Marnie just stared up at the sky with her usual blank stare, not looking fazed at all.

"Huh... Lightning...." She muttered.

"That kinda spooked me..." Victor panted with a breath of relief, caught off guard by the sudden sound. "You alright, Marnie?"

Marnie turned to him and simply nodded, "Yeah. Spikemuth's loud all the time. I'm used to sudden loud noises."

"Hmph, who's scared of a little lightnin'?" Gloria scoffed as she crossed her arms.

"Er..." Hop sweatdropped as his gaze made everyone else turn to what he was referring to.

Nessa was crouched on the floor, holding her head with both hands and trembling on the ground.

_ "SHE'S SCARED!?!"  _ Everyone thought in black and white.

Nessa's pokemon were gathered around their trainer as they comforted her, not looking too surprised at her reaction.

"Um... Nessa, are you...?"

Victor didn't finish as Nessa flinched at the realization that there were others around her. She jumped to her feet and turned around to the staring teenagers as she tried to recover, putting on a nervous smile as sweat started waterfalling around her.

"Am I what!? Who's what!? Am I something?! Nope! Nothing! I'm nothing!" She rapidly spoke before awkwardly laughing, rubbing the back of her head, and trying not to break character.

_ "Jiiiiiiiiii..."  _ Everyone else stared blankly at her, even her pokemon.

"Wh-What?" 

"Nessa, you're scared of lightning." Victor simply declared. His voice made it clear that he wasn't making fun of her nor worried. He was just simply stating a fact.

The model flinched while visibly blushing in embarrassment.

"Wh-What!? No, I'm not-!"

Another sudden flash occurred, followed by another immediate boom.

"KYAH!"

_ "Yup..."  _ Everyone thought with straight-faced expressions.

Victor then felt something fall on him.

"Eh?"

He checked his hand and saw a water droplet on it, making him look up.

Then another drop of water landed on him, followed by another, and then another.

"Ah, pants!" Hop shouted as he also looked up. "It's raining!"

"Grab everythin'!" Gloria shouted.

"I didn't even get to eat!" Victor comedically cried.

For the next few moments, all trainers and their pokemon rushed to put away all the supplies they used to cook. In the meantime, Victor pulled out a red blanket and immediately wrapped it around the shivering Nessa.

The girl turned to him in surprise as Victor pulled her to her feet.

"We've gotta go! Can you show us where any of those caves you mentioned are?!"

"Y-Yeah!" Nessa answered as composed as she could.

"Come back, everyone!" Gloria said as she started returning pokemon after pokemon into their Pokeballs. Hop and Marnie followed her actions and returned their own pokemon, which was then followed by Victor and Nessa doing so as well.

"Will you be alright?" Victor asked Nessa in concern.

The model wrapped the blanket around her into a hood to shield her from the now rapidly attacking rain.

"O-Of course I-!"

** *BOOM!* **

"EEK!" Nessa immediately crouched down again and clutched her head.

Victor didn't want to waste any time as the rain started coming down even harder, so he immediately got close to Nessa and crouched down beside her.

"I got this!"

Nessa's eyes shot open when she felt him touch her. "Huh? What are you- GAH!"

The model was lifted off the ground and onto Victor's shoulders in a piggy-back position, the boy looking determined as he adjusted her on top of him.

"Just shield yourself and point me ahead to the cave, Nessa!"

"Wha-!? HELL NO!! PUT ME DOWN!!" Nessa frantically shouted as she attempted to lift herself off.

"Sorry!" Victor said as he started running forward.

"VICTOR! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL ARE YA TWO DOIN'!?!" Gloria shrieked with flaming eyes and a murderous aura.

"Finding a place to stay! Come on!" Victor simply shouted as more lightning struck, making Nessa double over on him and shield her head in fear.

"Nice job, Victor! You can carry an entire wave on you!" Hop laughed as he ran next to his friend, pulling his jacket over himself to keep the rain off him.

"That's not funny, Hop! AND PUT ME DOWN, VICTOR!" Nessa shouted once again, grabbing the boy's head and shaking it while her face turned as red as a Magikarp.

She forced his head to look up at her, but Victor simply gave her an innocent smile despite the sudden pulling.

"Don't worry, I'll get you somewhere safe!"

Nessa froze when she felt warmth coming from the boy despite the chilling rain that landed on her. The smile from him was one of his more earnest and comforting ones, but it made her feel annoyed by how weakened she felt because of it.

"UGH! Th-This-!!"

She let go of his head and covered her face with her hands, comedically steaming intensely.

_ "Th-This is SO EMBARRASSING!!" _

Marnie ran with Morpeko beside her, the girl's eyes sparkling to see Nessa getting carried so easily by Victor.

_ "That looks like fun!" _

Gloria's teeth were grinding as she threatened to burn a hole behind Nessa's head with her glare, using every ounce of self-restraint to not dropkick the model right there.

* * *

** ~{Bridge Field Cave- A Few Minutes Later}~ **

A small fire flickered in the middle of the group of trainers. Rain poured violently just outside the cave, with both thunder and lightning joining it occasionally. Three different colored tents were all set up a few feet away from the trainers surrounding the fire, their sleeping quarters already set up.

Hop was smiling as his hands were near the fire, his blue jacket drying on a rock since it had become rather soaked in the rain. His pants were with it to dry as he had on some orange shorts.

Gloria was only a little worse than Hop. Her gray sweater and bonnet had gotten soaked as well and were drying near the fire, leaving her in her magenta button-up pink dress. Her exposed legs had gotten wet from running outside, so she was sitting in front of the fire to warm them up while using a towel to dry them.

Marnie, on the other hand, had gotten in worse condition compared to the other two. Her leather jacket and pink dress were terrible to be in during a rainstorm, as the thin clothing and her exposed legs left her freezing, even if she had changed into her Scrafty onesie once again. She had her onesie on and a towel wrapped around her as she sat on a rock stump near the fire, blushing and hoping the others wouldn't point out her childish nightwear.

Victor was wearing a white shirt with a Shuckle design with the addition of gray sweatpants. He was standing up as he rustled his hair with a blanket to dry it, a consequence of carrying Nessa due to the trailing water from her landing on him as he ran. He smiled as he watched Ace kicked some sticks into the fire before he focused his attention on the last trainer of the room, who was feeling sorry for herself.

"I got carried by a kid... I got carried because I got scared of lightning... They were perfectly fine... They kept calm while I panicked... I'm a failure of an adult..."

Nessa was muttering a storm as she remained black and white with an emotionless expression. She was lying on her side, a blanket wrapped around her body as she hugged her legs. She still wore her Gym uniform despite it being soaked, not fazed at all by the cold.

"Don't feel bad, Nessa... It's okay to be afraid of something." Victor said as he sat beside the woman and pat her back.

"Heh, does being afraid of lightning have to do with being a water-type trainer?" Hop joked.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" Nessa shouted as she turned back, surprising the group. "Pokemon Thunderbolts are different than normal lightning! At least with Thunderbolts, you know where it's being aimed at! But lightning just comes out of nowhere and is too GOD DAMN LOUD!" 

She started huffing angrily while everyone stared at her with widened eyes.

"Um, were you always this bad with lightning?" Victor asked her.

Nessa looked down as she started to grumble.

"I was small when I went swimming in a lake... It was the first time I heard thunder so loud... Not to mention there were some Electrike hanging around, and because of their damn Lightning Rod ability, lightning of  _ course, _ had to keep striking them like two feet away from me..."

_ "Oh god, that's close."  _ Hop thought nervously.

Silence then overcame the group as Nessa just kept her eyes down while grumbling, flinching at each instance of thunder and lightning striking outside.

"..." Victor reached up and gently rubbed her head with a smile. "There, there."

More cross-veins emerged on Nessa as she suddenly shot to her feet out of Victor's reach and grabbed her head with both of her hands in frustration.

"ARGH! That's not making me feel any better! I'm not supposed to be comforted and treated like a kid!  _ You  _ guys should be the ones scared so I can be the adult here!!" 

"Some adult, shoutin' like a wee lassie scared by a bug in class..." Gloria muttered.

Nessa was facing the wall and hugging her legs, sulking with a comedic blue aura of depression around her.

"That was harsh, Gloria..." Hop sighed with his head shaking in disapproval.

Victor scooted closer to Nessa and rubbed her back.

"It's okay. Even adults need to be comforted once in a while, remember?"

Nessa recalled when she and Victor went to the Lake Of Outrage, the boy helping to bring light on her life throughout the dark time she was in.

She pouted upon recalling the memory.

"But I shouldn't be getting  _ carried  _ by a  _ kid _ ."

Victor laughed, "Oh come on, Nessa! I'm not that much younger than you!"

Nessa turned to Victor with an unamused gaze.

"A few years is a  _ lot _ ." She rose a finger and poked him on the nose. " _ kid. _ "

Victor blinked as he rubbed his nose, then chuckling before standing back up. "I'm just saying you shouldn't feel ashamed of yourself. You've done that enough already."

"Yeah, yeah..." Nessa grumbled as she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her.  _ "Acting like he knows everything..." _

A flash occurred outside with the addition of thunder, making the young adult flinch and wrap her blanket tighter.

"I-I'm just gonna call a Flying Taxi..." She stood up with the towel wrapped tightly around her, stuttering as she pulled out her phone.

"Right now? In  _ that _ ?" Marnie questioned in worry as she glanced at the furious rain just outside the cave.

"Y-Yeah, I don't have anything to sleep in, anyway. And you guys only have three tents." Nessa said as she stood up and walked towards the end of the cave to make the call.

"S-Sorry for having your tent share with me, Gloria." Marnie said to the girl sitting next to her.

Gloria just shrugged, "It's fine."

"Heh, I thought you'd be disappointed that you didn't get to sleep with Vi-ACK!" Hop's words were cut off as a rock nailed him right onto his forehead, sending him back with a thud.

Marnie and Morpeko shivered as they saw Gloria angrily huffing with a blush on her face, her hand steaming from how fast her throw was.

_ "As if I could do something that embarrassing!"  _ Gloria growled.

"Gloria, please don't kill Hop." Victor sighed as he walked over to his unconscious friend and picked him up from the ground.

"He asked for it..." Gloria muttered to herself with a pout.

"What did he even say?" Victor sighed as he carried the boy toward his respected tent.

As Victor got closer to the back of the cave where the tents were, he heard Nessa raising her voice.

"Are you serious!? But you've flown through  _ sandstorms  _ before! What's wrong with a little rain!?!"

_ "Uh oh... That doesn't sound good."  _ He paused.

"Y-Yeah, I'm somewhere dry... What!?! Oh come on! Please!"

_ "I think she's stuck here..."  _ Victor turned and carefully went into Hop's tent, gently putting him onto his sleeping bag.

He then quickly slipped out and turned to Nessa, who hung up her phone with a blank stare.

"Um... Something wrong?" Victor asked as he approached her.

Nessa lowered her phone and turned to Victor with her head down, letting out a sigh.

"Well... It turns out I'm not heading back after all..."

"So the Flying Taxi's don't come in the rain?" Victor asked her.

Nessa rubbed the back of her head as she looked up depressingly. "No... It's just that the weather in the Bridge Field is too harsh for the Corviknights... None can come..."

"Then you're staying with us tonight!" Victor cheered with his hands up.

Nessa groaned, "But I don't even have anywhere to sleep-!"

"You can use my tent while I group up with Hop, and I could give you a t-shirt and some shorts. You're pretty skinny, so they should fit perfectly!"

_ "I don't know if he unintentionally insulted or praised me."  _ Nessa deadpanned.

"I'll find something for you, be right back!" Victor happily turned back and dove right into his tent.

"Wait, you really don't have to." Nessa said as she crouched by Victor's tent and peeked inside to see the boy digging through his backpack.

Victor glanced back at her with a bright smile, "It's fine! I'll make sure you feel really comfy! Just warm yourself up by the fire!"

"There he be going again... Always thinkin' about everyone else..." Gloria muttered.

Nessa, feeling chilly, took Victor's advice and walked over to the others by the fire, albeit with a moody gaze. She planted herself on a rock stump, resting her head into her hand with a grumble.

"Somethin' wrong?" Marnie spoke up, picking up on her mood.

"Hm?" Nessa uncaringly tilted her head to her.

"Ya ain't still pissin' about havin' us take care of ya? Get over it. Can't help it with the sudden rain." Gloria said without turning away from the fire.

"You really have a foul mouth, don't you?" Nessa deadpanned.

"Meh." The girl simply shrugged and rubbed her hands together to continue warming herself up.

"Here you go, Nessa!" Victor came out of his tent, holding a black t-shirt with a pink Pikachu design in the center and dark blue shorts.

"Oh, thank you." Nessa took the two articles of clothing and examined them in her hands.

"And you could even use my sleeping bag if you like! I know it might get cold even in the tent!" Victor smiled.

"Hold up now, Victor. I think that's about enough." Nessa smiled sweetly, her previous mood already melting by the warmth of earnestly Victor had. "I really appreciate it, but that's  _ your _ place to sleep."

She reached forward and pinched his cheek, giggling a bit. "Think of yourself some more, alright?"

"I'd prefer thinking of you more." Victor immediately responded as he sparkled innocently.

"E-Eh?" Nessa's smile was wiped into a shocked blush.

_ "That's... pretty bold."  _ Marnie thought as she repeatedly blinked in surprise.

Morpeko stared rather disappointingly at Victor.

"Mor..." (Simp...)

Ace sweatdropped as he heard this.

_ "Are they... GOD DAMN FLIRTIN'!?!"  _ Gloria had  _ menacing _ symbols emitting from her as she stared lifelessly at the two, the campfire almost seeming to burst in flames by her presence.

Nessa maintained her embarrassing surprise for another moment before surprisingly pouting.

"Ow!" Victor himself was surprised by a sudden flick on the nose from the model.

"Stop doing that."

Victor rubbed his nose with comedic tears as question marks appeared around his head.

"Doing what!?!"

"Not thinking before you speak..." Nessa mumbled, turning her head away to hide her blush.  _ "Ugh... He keeps catching me off guard..." _

Gloria was glaring daggers.

"Um... Maybe we should hit the hay?" Marnie suggested, noticing the rather awkward atmosphere.

"Yeah... We  _ should. _ " Gloria agreed coldly.

By this point, Nessa felt chills and finally noticed Gloria's threatening aura towards her, causing her to nervously sweat.

_ "Wh-What?" _

* * *

** ~{Bridge Field Cave-11:13PM}~ **

_ "Ugh... I can't sleep at all..." _

Nessa shivered despite having blankets wrapped around her, the model currently residing within Victor's red tent by herself. She was wearing the t-shirt and shorts given to her by the boy, both fitting pretty well as he had said before. Despite the light clothing and few blankets around her, Nessa wasn't shaking from the cold, but rather from the sounds of intense thunder and lightning booming just outside.

_ "This sucks... Some adult I am... Getting treated dinner by kids, getting scared in front of them, and then needing them to provide me a place to sleep..." _

She gripped her blankets tightly with a large blush.

_ "But getting carried like that... God damn it." _

She unraveled herself from her blankets and sat up, revealing that her hair had been done in a large bun for sleeping. Her eyes had, of course, adjusted to the darkness of the tent but were still blurry from unsuccessfully trying to sleep through the booming noises outside.

Nessa sighed as she rubbed her head.

_ "Victor really is too nice for his own good..." _

She glanced down at the shirt provided by the boy, tugging at it and picking up something from it. She curiously brought her head down and took a whiff.

_ "Hm, smells like him." _

Immediately after the thought, Nessa froze with a blank expression.

_ "Hold up." _

She blinked multiple times in the span of a few seconds, then facepalming.

_ "What the hell am I doing?" _

She shook her head and let herself fall back on the blankets making up her 'bed,' then letting out another sigh.

_ "You know what? Don't even question it. You've just been stressed lately. You're just getting over your issues, after all. That was just some... 'weird' side effect." _

"..."

Nessa groaned.

_ "That doesn't even make sense..." _

She turned to her side and brought the blankets over herself, trying to snuggle up and finally get some sleep.

She managed to doze off for a bit, missing out on the sounds of movement and mumbling. She breathed softly as she had unconsciously curled into a ball and kept breathing in the black shirt she was wearing.

** *BOOM!* **

"EEP!" Nessa shot up with her eyes wide open by the sound of thunder once again, then clamping her mouth with her hands to muffle a scream.

She was frozen in place for a few seconds before she let out a breath of relief.

_ "God damn it..." _

Being wide awake once more, Nessa groaned and rubbed her eyes.

"Noi...Noi..."

"Zig... Zig!"

"Huh?" Nessa rose her head as she picked up on the sounds of skittering with the addition of whimpering.

_ "Pokemon?"  _

Nessa frowned as she wondered if they were sneaking in to steal something, having her somehow pull out a Pokeball and slip on her sandals before crawling out of the tent.

She carefully poked her head out but was immediately surprised by what she saw.

A fire had been set up again despite having been put out earlier by them. And around the fire were several types of pokemon huddled around. Zigzagoons, Cufant, Stufful, and even a few Noibats were shivering as they kept close to each other, wrapped in blankets. They had a mixture of expressions on their faces, from relief to fear as they kept close to the new fire for warmth. A few Wimpods scattered around the place nervously, not seeming to need the warmth of the fire but filled with anxiety.

_ "What in the world!?" _ She got out of the tent, and all the pokemon's eyes instantly turned to her in shock.

Nearly all the pokemon moved from their spots and hid behind the fire, trying to use it as a wall between them and Nessa while trying to keep their warmth.

Nessa gazed at them curiously, feeling bad at how scared they appeared.

"Hey, little fellas. How did... you..." 

Her voice trailed off when she turned her head to look at where they came from, only to notice a trail of water drops leading from outside the cave to the fire. Normally this wouldn't be surprising, as it makes sense that water would be dripping off the pokemon from the storm outside. However, what made Nessa's pupils shrink was the added sight of wet footprints along the ground.

_ "Wait..." _

She blinked several times and turned to the pokemon who were still hiding, then immediately turning back and rushing to the tents.

Nessa poked her head into Hop's blue tent, only to find the snoring boy with the space next to him lacking a certain person. Nessa's panic grew as she pulled out from the tent and hurried to Gloria's tent, peeking inside to see both the shapes of Gloria and Marnie peacefully sleeping side by side.

Nessa felt her stomach drop as it seemed her initial worry was correct. She immediately pulled away from the tent and turned her head to the exit of the cave where the footprints led, seeing the heavy rain and lightning flashing outside.

_ "THAT IDIOT!" _

The model tossed up every single one of her Pokeballs, and her team came landing on the cave floor.

All the smaller pokemon by the fire shivered in fear to see such large and powerful pokemon come out, wondering if they would be forced to leave.

"Quagsire, Toxapex, watch over these guys! The rest of you, you're with me!" Nessa exclaimed, barely able to keep her voice down with how frantic she was.

"Gol!/Arro!/Pel!/Dred!/Tox!/Quag!" Her team agreed.

Nessa snatched one of the dropped towels from the wild pokemon and wrapped it around herself, then running towards the cave's opening with her chosen pokemon behind her.

** *BOOM!* **

Nessa skidded to a halt and turned pale as lightning flashed outside with another explosion of sound violating her ears. She backed up and tightly wrapped the towel around her as her breathing hardened, bumping into her Golisopod, who stopped behind her.

"Gol? Gol?" The large pokemon appeared to frown as he noticed his trainer's panic, placing one of his large plated hands on her shoulder while using the other to point outside for his teammates. "Gol!"

The rest of her pokemon rushed out to look for the missing boy, none bothered one bit by the heavy rain. Golisopod then looked down at Nessa hyperventilating with a hand on her chest, eyes dilating as she stared outside.

Golisopod started to gently pull her back to lead the model to bed, but surprisingly, Nessa pulled forward as she slowly, but surely, steadied her breathing.

"Gol?"

Nessa gulped nervously as she took a step forward and wrapped the towel to cover herself and form a hood in the way someone would wrap a cloth over themselves in a desert.

"O-Okay..." She said with deep breaths.

Golisopod curiously stared at his trainer and waited.

_ "Victor... When I find you... I'm GONNA KILL YOU FOR THIS!!" _

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!" Nessa let out a war-cry as she charged forward, shocking her Golisopod and even frightening the other small pokemon that had been gathered by the fire.

In Gloria's tent, both girls sleepily cracked their eyes open with sleep bubbles emitting from them, with Marnie being the one to slightly rise up.

"Hmmm... What was that?"

Gloria didn't even seem to care as she just shuffled a bit in her sleep.

"*Yawn...* Probably Hop dreamin' he beat Leon... again..." She mumbled as she slowly went back into her slumber.

"Oh... Alright..." Marnie was too sleepy to argue in her cozy Scrafty onesie, simply lying back down and snoozing again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu plays a card down.)
> 
> And then I play Fractured Identity to exile my own Phage The Untouchable, giving each of you a copy. But because you didn't cast it from your hand, you guys lose the game.
> 
> (Everyone at the table falls back from their chairs.)
> 
> Heh, I love doing that.
> 
> (Turns to you.)
> 
> Anyway, so Victor finally met the funny internet explorer man! Things seem to have gone well, Colress seems... 'unique' but that might not be a bad thing! But yeah, after this chapter, I'm focusing on my other fic. Don't worry though, as I actually have ANOTHER chapter of Galar's Secret Miracle already typed out! I'll post it when I feel it's right and the comments accumulate for this chapter! (Plus I gotta do a bunch of editing and rereading on the next chapter anyway before I post it. It takes a while.)
> 
> But... thanks to everyone for sticking with me all the way up here, and I hope you leave a comment and share stories of YOUR pokemon life growing up. 14 years man... 14 years flashed right before my eyes. I'm curious to know what kind of things flashed before yours when you saw that video. But as always, thanks for the comments, thanks for reading, and thanks for always being amazing!
> 
> (Shuffles deck back up again.)
> 
> Now let's get another game!


	24. A Stormy Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu sitting alone on a comfy couch, staring out the window to watch the falling snow.)
> 
> So... Here we are, nearing the end of the year... It's been pretty fun, hasn't it?
> 
> ...
> 
> Two years ago... Over two years ago I never would've guessed that I would be writing two fics that have so many people enjoy, especially since I hated writing in general. Heh, how times have changed...
> 
> (Gets up and jumps to the floor, moving to the lit-up fireplace.)
> 
> Now, if you were to ask me what I enjoy doing the most, then I guess it would have to be writing these fics. They just make me feel happy, they make me feel... important. It just brings so much satisfaction writing these and then watching people comment on them, letting me know that there are people both reading and enjoying them... But now, here is the chapter I said I was nearly done writing previously. I finished the edits on it a while ago, but decided to wait to post this as my Christmas gift for all of you. The 24th chapter for the 24th of December. Fitting, right? Heh. Not only that, but my other fic has also been updated along with this one. Such great presents, if I do say so myself.
> 
> (Turns to tall, decorated Christmas tree next to him.)
> 
> So... Like I also said in the previous chapter, now that I've posted this one, from now on, I'll be focusing on my other fic, To Be A Hero. I wonder how long it'll take me to get caught up to my writing for that fic... I don't know, but know that I'll be doing my best to write and post those chapters, I promise you guys that.
> 
> (Walks to one of the presents underneath the tree.)
> 
> But for now...
> 
> (Unwraps present)
> 
> Appreciate this gift from me, alright?

**~{Bridge Field Cave- Forty Minutes Before Nessa Left}~**

*Snoooooooooooorre!!!!!*

Victor was completely awake with an unamused look on his face, lying on the ground in his tent and wrapped in his yellow sleeping bag as if in a cocoon. The loud snoring next to him was Hop, the noise even louder than the sounds of thunder from outside. Their pokemon were stored in Pokeballs for the night, as the tent was too cramped for all of them.

_"Yeah... I don't think I'm sleeping much..."_ The boy thought with a sigh, unzipping his sleeping bag and sitting up. His current clothing was the same as earlier, with the white Shuckle-designed T-shirt and gray sweatpants to go with it.

_"I guess I could use 'Rest' to immediately put myself to sleep... The only problem is that I'm guaranteed to wake up after a certain amount of time in the middle of the night..."_

He stretched his arms up with a small groan.

_"Although, I'll be asleep for MUCH longer if I'm injured... Learned that the hard way with Sensei."_

Thinking of his Greninja friend, Victor paused and lowered his arms, then letting himself fall back on top of his sleeping bag while staring up in thought.

_"That's right... It's been a while since I've seen Sensei... I haven't even-"_

Victor suddenly sat up with completely widened eyes.

_"I NEVER CALLED MOM!!"_

He started nervously shivering as he recalled promising to get in touch with her.

_"I'm... so dead."_

He rushed to put on his sandals and grabbed his Rotom phone, being sure not to accidentally trip over Hop as he slipped outside his tent. The cave was rather dark, but with his eyes already adjusting to the darkness, Victor proceeded to the deepest part where the storm's noise would be the lowest. He held his phone in his right hand as he tapped the contact for his mother, sitting down with his back pressing against the cave wall.

_"I hope she's not asleep yet... I don't think she is. Ever since learning that I sneak out to train with Sensei at night, she changed her sleep schedule..."_

He heard the dialing of his phone go on, to which he turned his head and gazed outside the cave at the occasional flashes and booming occurring.

_"Man... The rain really came down hard..."_

He waited a few more seconds before he heard his phone click.

And then...

* _Victor, the next time you come home, you're eating sardines with yogurt._ * A dangerous voice spoke.

Victor had an expression as if dead inside as he turned completely blue in despair.

"H-Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeey mom..." He nervously chuckled. "L-Let's not get ahead of ourselves..."

* _So anyways, how have you been, sweetie?_ * His mom's voice became sickenly sweet as if she hadn't just said her previous words.

_"She's PISSED!"_ Victor could immediately tell.

"L-Look mom, I'm sorry... I _know_ I said I would call, but... a _lot_ of things happened. It feels like every second of my trip, I was doing something."

There was a moment of silence on the line before Victor heard his mother sigh.

* _It didn't matter anyway. In fact, I should be glad you didn't call..."_

"Eh?" Victor blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

* _Well, let's say that some unnecessary information is always said in those pokemon stadiums... Right, 'Victor of Postwick?'_ *

Victor's eyes widened in realization. At each gym he's been to, his presence was always announced with the location of his home town. So if Rainbow Rocket was watching, then...

"W-Wait! So-!?!"

* _Yup, Team Rocket came looking. Don't worry, they didn't find me._ *

Victor let out a breath of relief, and he rubbed his head.

"I-I never thought about that... I knew they'd be watching me as much as they can, but I didn't think about you... So it was good that I didn't call? Did that have to do with them too?"

* _Yes, Victor. I worried that they'd be tracking any calls in Postwick, so I worked on a little gizmo to install into the house. I finished it recently, so now you should be good to ACTUALLY remember to call me._ *

"Again, sorry for forgetting..." Victor sweatdropped.

* _Sure you are, heh. But besides blocking out any tracking Rainbow Rocket can do, your gentleman of a Greninja and all your other pokemon friends from the forest have been keeping watch around Postwick. They've been driving away any of those Grunts that go searching in the forest. And because of how many times they've been pushed out, they must think I'm hiding in there rather than in a house nearby!_ _Heh, good old misdirection._ *

"I'm... I'm just glad to know you're safe, mom..." Victor smiled with clear relief on his face. "Is Sensei living in the house? Or is he watching from the forest?"

* _He helps the pokemon in the forest since you're not around, even fighting Team Rocket when he finds them._ *

"It's actually 'Rainbow' Rocket."

* _You think I care whatever they call themselves!?_ *

"No, but they officially changed their name, so not hearing official names bugs me." Victor chuckled.

* _..._ *

"Mom?" Victor asked, not liking her moment of silence.

* _Did... you run into them?_ *

Victor paused for a moment before he understood what his mother asked.

"Rainbow Rocket? Yeah... I did, mom."

His mother's voice suddenly became panicked.

* _How many were there!?! Are you hurt!? Hop and Gloria didn't get involved, did they!?!_ *

"I'm fine, mom! I'm fine! Everything's fine!" Victor quickly reassured her. "I wasn't together with them when Rainbow Rocket came after me, so my pokemon and I were able to take them on with my powers!"

He looked down at his hand, opening and closing it.

"Speaking of which... It's actually been quite a while since I used any of them..."

* _Don't make it sound like you want to use them! You should only be fighting in self-defense!_ *

"But I mean, I _do_ want to keep practicing with them. I want to learn new things." Victor muttered.

There was a brief pause over the phone before he heard his mother let out another sigh.

* _Victor... Remember, these powers of yours... They're special._ *

"Obviously..." 

* _So you should know that because of how special they are- Because of how special YOU are, you have to be careful. You didn't ask for those for powers, and... I'm sorry for that-_ *

"Mom." Victor cut her off in a more serious tone. "I told you... I don't blame you for anything. You didn't have much of a choice to do tests on me... It was basically either to go against Rainbow rocket and lose me or work with them and keep me. And I'm just glad that you and-"

He paused for a moment, closing his mouth and looking down with a pained expression.

"-dad were there... You both made sure I was always okay, even managing to halt some experiments because you guys got worried about me. You didn't even care if it got you into trouble... You did all you could with the situation you were forced into."

* _Heh... My little boy, so kind and forgiving... I'm so glad you still ended up coming out as so pure..._ *

"Thanks, mom..." Victor sweetly smiled.

* _Now, I think we've talked enough about bad things. So... Tell me everything, Victor. Tell me all about your adventure so far. Unless if it's too late for you-_ *

"I have SO much to tell you!" Victor exclaimed with sparkling eyes, only to blink in realization and start whispering. "Oh, I gotta be careful not to be too loud. Everyone else is sleeping..."

* _Everyone?_ *

* * *

**~{Meanwhile-Team Rainbow Rocket Base}~**

"Hm, this is... exceptional."

Colress glanced around in a rather large room with a curious look on his face. Around him was an entirely black tiled floor with bright red outlines forming square shapes on the ground. In addition, the walls around him were black from the top, only to slowly blend into bright red as they went down near the floor. Colress was entranced by the room's size, which rivaled the interior of the normally large gyms of Galar, and gave him plenty of space to work. He turned his head left and right as he walked forward, noting every single bit of equipment going from desks of computers to the large capsule all the way at the end of the room.

Colress stopped in front of the large and spherical capsule, his smile falling as he gazed through the thick lid of glass and into the interior. The inside was large enough to contain a person, to which Colress found it obvious as to who it was meant to contain.

_"So... This is where he'll be stored..."_

Colress glanced upwards at the machinery above him, noticing several weapons aimed towards the capsule and typing the details of them on his wrist keyboard.

"Hm... Tasers... How barbaric." He muttered.

Colress then heard a beep behind him, then followed by the reinforced doors at the entrance opening.

The scientist turned around as a familiar man walked in. His long cane and hateful expression instantly recognizable.

Colress put on an innocent smile as the cane echoed with each thud.

"Ah, Ghetsis, my most despicable colleague."

Ghetsis was halfway across the room before the bottom of his cane slammed against the ground with an eerie clank.

"You watch your mouth, Colress!" He spat, his red eye dilating in an intense glare while the other remained hidden behind his visor. "I don't give a _damn_ how important you are in this! You speak to me like that, and I'll crush you right here!"

"Oh dear, you appear to be _extra_ agitated today. Do you wish to talk about it?" Colress asked, completely unfazed by the threat.

"Hmph!" Ghetsis simply marched past him and approached the large machine that was the capsule, stopping in front of it to admire it.

As Ghetsis stared at the machine, Colress's smile fell. If anyone in Rainbow Rocket knew Ghetsis, it was Colress, having worked for the man before. And this also meant that because Colress knew him so well, he _despised_ him the most out of anyone.

"May I ask what it is you're here for?"

Ghetsis scoffed, keeping his gaze on the large capsule.

"Isn't it obvious? To take a look at what will soon be the living quarters of _my_ new... 'associate.'"

"You aren't implying that you'll use the boy as your new _king_ , are you? Don't you recall the last time you attempted something such as that?" Colress frowned.

"I simply went about it the wrong way." Ghetsis gritted through his teeth, holding back the urge to erase the scientist right there. "I kept him isolated. I showed him pokemon in pain so he would detest humans, but... In the end, he _still_ ended up seeing the 'good' of it all..."

"So then how are you going to go at it this time?" Colress asked with a disinterested tone, proceeding to type on his wrist.

Ghetsis simply turned back to him with an evil grin.

"Simple. We both have a common enemy."

"So you're just going to try to convince him to join you and plot against Giovanni?" Colress sighed. "You think it'll be that easy?"

"Of course not." Ghetsis stated, fully turning his body in Colress's direction. "I have to play on everything about the boy... What he fights for, what he loves, what he aims to do and be... It will take time."

Colress stopped typing and rose his head. "So you're going to acquaint yourself with him? To speak to him like a high school friend spending your youth together? No offense, Ghetsis... Actually, with _every_ offense, you're not exactly, oh what's the word...?"

He looked up with a hand on his chin.

"Sociable? No... I believe I'll simply state that anyone who'd be friends with you requires either a doctor or a psychiatrist, or perhaps they'd need to be in an asylum entirely."

Cross-veins formed on Ghetsis as he scowled.

"You bastard..."

"Subject Victor isn't a fool. He's cautious, intelligent, and very high-spirited. Unless you get on his bad side, at least. I've felt his aura firsthand. I wouldn't recommend getting close without knowing just what he's capable of." Colress declared.

"But that's what you're here for."

Colress raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"Your job is to discover _everything_ you can about Victor. His strengths, his _weaknesses_ ." Ghetsis grinned. "And you're obligated to share that information with not only Giovanni but with _me_ as well."

"Technically, any one of the organization leaders are entitled to that information."

" _Moving_ on." Ghetsis hissed upon the mention of his 'colleagues,' "You are to conduct your research and obtain as much information about Victor as you can."

"I know my orders, Ghetsis. And as what I already know about the boy, he's a kindhearted and intelligent individual who won't be fooled by _charades._ " Colress spoke, emphasizing his last word.

Ghetsis picked up on his clue, clicking his tongue in frustration.

"If he won't comply with me... Then there are always 'other' methods of submission."

"Aaaaaaaand that's why you'll never end up with what you want..." Colress shook his head in disapproval.

"JUST DO YOUR DAMN JOB!" Ghetsis yelled, his patience for the scientist thin.

"I was going to before you came in." Colress reached into his coat pocket and pulled a vial containing blood.

Ghetsis's rage was replaced with surprise the moment his eyes laid on the item.

"Wait... Is that-?"

"Indeed. The first step to progress." Colress walked over to a piece of equipment on a table that contained several slots, one of which Colress inserted the vial of blood into.

"How did you obtain it?" Ghetsis asked, suddenly rushing to the same table and slamming his hands on it. His eyes focused on the vial with a captivated gaze.

"I've come to a 'mutual agreement' with subject Victor."

Hearing that, Ghetsis turned his head to Colress with an intense glare.

" _What_ did you do?"

Colress gave an unamused sigh. "As I've stated, I came to an agreement with subject Victor. I simply approached the boy and offered him a chance to discover his own strength. To find the answers that he's been looking for about his own body."

Ghetsis grabbed Colress by the collar and pulled him threateningly close.

"And what _other_ answers have you also given him! How the hell do I know you just won't tell him where to find us!?"

"Simple. I already know I can't share any kind of that delicate information. If I did, the base would be compromised, and I would lose the equipment needed for my research. Not to mention, I wouldn't want a target on my back and be hunted down from any possible remains of the organization in the circumstances that such an event would happen." Colress smiled.

As much as he hated to admit it, Ghetsis knew Colress would remain in line. In the end, the scientist only worked to satisfy his own curiosities about the world of pokemon, so there shouldn't be too much worry about any exposure of information from him... Unless another group offers him an even bigger chance of conducting research.

"Hmph!" Ghetsis released Colress and started marching off with his cane clanking on the floor. "I expect you to notify me as soon as you've made some progress."

"Must I have to? It'll most likely slip my mind."

Ghetsis stopped and turned back to Colress with a Masterball out, wrinkles all over his livid face.

Colress sighed, not wishing to be on the receiving end of a Sheer Cold.

"Fine..."

Ghetsis appeared to be satisfied, turning around and exiting the room with the doors gently sliding closed behind him.

Colress turned back to the desk and connected the keyboard on his wrist to the machine he had slipped the vial into, then proceeding to type away.

"And now with the hindrance is gone..."

He put on an excited smile.

"Let's see just how you're doing, my interesting specimen."

* * *

**~{Back to Bridge Field Cave}~**

"And then the Snorlax started _running_ after me! It was insane!" Victor laughed as he lay down against the ground. 

He had summarized his entire journey ever since leaving his mother at Wedgehurst station. He told her about the new additions to his team, laughing when he recalled how Telsa snuck into his bag, and then sighing when he told her how Midori and Gloria's Luna were attacked.

However, his mood lightened up again when he told his mom about all the new friends he made. He told her about Marnie's cold look but that the girl was actually precious, told her how over-eccentric but full of passion Kabu was, and he even told her about how... 'friendly' Bede was and that he knew there was much more to him. 

But what _really_ got him excited to talk about was his battles. He told his mom how nervous he was in his first Gym Battle against Milo, then he told her how relieved and amazing Nessa was when she started fighting full force after he had helped her through her issues, and then he described how heated up he felt with his battle got against Kabu.

At first, his mother had joined him in laughter, and her excitement even peaked when Victor told her about helping such a popular model like Nessa and helping to treasure Marnie like a gentleman. 

However, she got quiet when her son informed her about running into Rainbow Rocket. Victor reassured her that he and his pokemon held off against them quite well, but she still remained silent as her son continued to ramble with the more recent parts of his adventure. Meeting the three Gym Leaders he already battled, going out to different areas of Motostoke with them, and then proceeding to leave with Nessa joining his fellow Gym Challengers on their journey.

Which led to him leaving off on his group encountering the rather frightening Snorlax.

"Man, I was terrified. I mean, since when does a Snorlax _run_ like that!? Right, mom?" Victor chuckled, sitting up again and pressing his back against the wall. 

The lack of a response wiped his smile away into a look of confusion.

"Mom?"

* _Er, sorry sweetie, I'm just... processing everything.*_

"Oh, I guess I did kind of brought up a lot... I got completely into it." Victor awkwardly chuckled.

* _Yes... Victor, about Rainbow Rocket-_ *

"I'm fine, mom, really!" Victor quickly reassured her. "It was tiring to deal with them, but I handled those guys every time they came at me!"

He turned his head and looked outside the storm, almost as if expecting someone to be there.

"Besides... They haven't ambushed me at all ever since I arrived in Hulbury... Even if I was surrounded by people most of the time, there were still moments where they could've used the chance to attack. I think they gave up? Er, or at least for a while."

* _That's what concerns me, Victor... If they haven't come after you since then... They may already be planning something new. Or sending someone else to go after you rather than some basic Grunts._ *

"Then I'll just beat them too!" Victor declared over the sound of thunder outside. "I haven't had any trouble so far, and my team is just getting stronger by the day!"

* _Victor... Whoever is sending those grunts after you, it's clear they're testing you. Otherwise, I'm sure they would've sent the strongest members they have. The more people they send, the more they learn watching from afar. You can't show them everything you have._ *

Victor looked down with discolored eyes, thinking about _who_ these types of... 'stronger' people are. He wondered if it was any of the higher-ups, or maybe the leader himself would come after him, which begs the question...

"Mom... Do you really not know who leads Rainbow Rocket?"

There was a moment of silence over the call before he heard his mother sigh.

* _I'm sorry, Victor... I told you this before. Your father and I... we were part of an unfortunate group abducted to forcefully help Rainbow Rocket... We were isolated from anyone too important in the case that any of us somehow got out... They didn't want us to have any important names._ *

"But..." Victor's mind went back to his first encounter with Rainbow Rocket, recalling the instant chill he felt the moment he had heard someone's voice over the Grunt's phone. "Mom... I think I might've met him before."

* _Eh!? You have!? When!? How!?_ *

"I don't know. It's just... He called me through one of the Grunt's phones. The moment I heard his voice... I-I recognized him. But at the same time, I didn't. I don't remember how he looks, but I just _know_ I met him before..."

* _I... I don't know how you could've. We always made sure to keep an eye on you, so I don't know how he could've had the chance to speak to you. What did he talk to you about?*_

"Nothing too serious. We just both kinda agreed that it's better if no one else knew about my powers. It'll just make it harder for him to ever have chances to catch me. Other than that..."

Victor recalled when he asked the man about who caused his father's fate, making his eyes dilate.

* _Victor?_ * His mother piped up, noticing his pause.

The boy shook his head to snap out of the darkening thoughts, then taking a deep breath.

"Sorry... I don't really remember what else we talked about. It was a while ago."

* _I see..._ * His mother muttered, not sounding too convinced. * _Well... Other than him, is there anyone else from Rainbow Rocket you've spoken to? Maybe you could've gotten any information from one of them about who does lead them?_ *

"Well..." Victor's eyes widened as he remembered the scientist from earlier in the day.

_"That's right! Colress!"_

He nearly blurted that name out loud, but Victor clamped his mouth with fearful eyes as he thought about the consequences.

_"I... I can't tell mom about Colress. If she learns that Dynamax energy is hurting me, if she learns that I'm actually going to be WORKING with someone from Rainbow Rocket... Th-Then there's no way she'd be alright with it. She might make me come home. Actually... she'll DEFINITELY make me come back. I... I can't do that. Not when I've got so far..."_

* _Victor? What's wrong? You're quiet again._ *

He flinched, "S-Sorry, mom. I got a little too deep into my thoughts... I was thinking about any others I talked to, but... I've only been asking the Grunts I defeated about their leader since I've only fought them. But their answers were always the same. They refused to talk, they don't know, or they just kept silent. I... I didn't really get any information from them."

* _I see... You're not hunting any of them down, are you?_ *

"What? No, no, no!" Victor said with a shake of his head as if his mother could see him."That would just get in the way of my Gym Challenge! Don't worry, mom, I'm making sure to stay safe! I wouldn't just charge headfirst into their base or go actively searching for trouble."

* _You'd better not, young man. I expect you to be smart about your choices._ *

"I know, I-"

Victor paused when he heard some rustling, turning left to see Midori sleepily stumble out of his tent, rubbing both of his eyes.

"Oh, hey Midori." Victor smiled upon seeing his pokemon. "Sorry, did I wake you up?"

It didn't even seem like his pokemon heard him, as he was just sleepily walking towards his trainer before plopping onto his lap, then curling himself in a little ball and sleeping there.

_"Awwwwwwww!!!"_ Victor thought as a gentle warmth went through him from the sight.

* _Midori?_ * 

Victor snapped out of his daze as he remembered he was still on the call.

"Oh, sorry, mom! My Kirlia came out of my tent and fell asleep on me."

* _Well, doesn't that sound nice?_ * His mother chuckled. * _I think that means it's time to end this for tonight._ *

"Huh? But I didn't even get to tell you about how adorable Marnie is! Or what I'm doing for Sonia! Or even how amazing and misunderstood Spikemuth and its people really are!"

* _We have time for all that for another day, Victor. It's already late enough as it is. You need to get your rest._ *

"But mom, I-"

* _I don't care if you're used to staying up late because of your training with Greninja. You have to fix that sleep schedule! And another thing, I won't get on your case about calling me 'every' night from now on, as it's clear that a lot of things happen to you throughout the day. But I still want you to call me at least once a week. If I have to be the one to call you, then you're going to find even more 'bizarre' food choices when you do finally come back home._ *

Victor nervously shivered at the threat, "Y-Yes, mom..."

* _Good. Then I'll say just one last thing... I'm proud of you, sweetie."_

The boy stopped shaking.

* _Like I said, you didn't ask for your powers. You didn't ask for this kind of life. But... You're still the same innocent boy I raised even before anything happened. I'm so glad you didn't change._ *

Victor formed a gentle smile of pure happiness as he heard her say that.

"I'm glad too, mom... I don't fault you for how things ended up. If anything, I'm glad they ended up this way. I've got so many friends, I live in such an amazing region, and I'm strong enough to make a change... To understand pokemon and help them, to use my powers to save them alongside my own pokemon. I'm glad that out of everyone, _I_ was the one to become like this... And I'm glad that you didn't treat me differently despite turning into... well, someone special."

* _You were always special, Victor. Your kindness, your confidence, just you in yourself are special._ *

"Then... Thank you for not treating me differently despite becoming 'more' special." He smiled.

His mother chuckled over the phone.

* _Of course, Victor. In the end, you'll always be my son, and I'll always love you, no matter what happens._ *

"Thanks, mom... I... I hope you sleep well." Victor said, feeling simply happy.

* _I will, especially knowing how happy you are. I can't wait to see you in your next gym battle. Say hi to Hop and Gloria for me, would you?_ *

"I will, mom. Goodnight."

* _Goodnight, Victor. I love you 3000~_ *

"Hold up, you did not just-!"

He didn't finish as he heard a click of the call being hung up, followed by a comforting silence.

He grinned as he placed his phone down and looked down at the Kirlia on his lap.

"She really just said that... Heh, I wonder if she's gonna make that a thing now."

He started gently rubbing Midori's head, who smiled upon the contact.

"I'm so glad I met you guys... This adventure has been so great..."

He turned to his tent with a proud smile.

"Right, Ace?"

From behind his tent walked out the familiar rabbit, the pokemon not surprised that his trainer somehow knew he was there.

"Raboot, Boot."

"Oh come on, what do you mean, 'It's been okay?' You were having so much fun before you turned into an edgy teenager!" Victor laughed.

Ace frowned as he turned away with his paws stuffed into his pouch.

"Raboot..." He grumbled.

"And you're still just as adorable as a tsundere~" He smugly grinned.

"BOOT!"

"Ack!" Victor's cheek was struck by a swift kick by an irritated Ace, causing the human to topple to the side and sending Midori off his lap.

"Kirl!?!" Midori landed facefirst on the ground and remained there for a few seconds. He then pushed himself up and rubbed his face with small whimpers of pain.

"Look what you did! You woke him up!" Victor pointed with a pout, completely ignoring the red imprint of a foot on his cheek as he sat up from the ground.

"Hmph! Boot!" Ace huffed, crossing his arms and looking away.

"You little..." Victor grumbled, getting up and walking over to Midori, rubbing his head. "You okay?"

Midori stopped rubbing his face and turn to Victor, revealing a slightly red area of impact.

"Kirl, Kirl..." He sighed.

"I don't think that's good... You shouldn't be wide awake. You guys should really be sleeping."

***Boom!***

Both of them turned out to the entrance of the cave, the storm still violently brewing outside.

_"Wow. I've never seen a storm like this in Postwick. It's..."_

Victor smiled in awe.

"Amazing."

Ace turned to gaze outside where his trainer was looking, watching as flashes of lightning occurred, revealing just how much rain was coming down. Surprisingly, it wasn't too dark outside despite it being night, but the constant flashing did mess with his eyesight.

However, he was able to pick up a few small silhouettes scurrying into the cave.

"Raboot!" Ace narrowed his eyes and pulled out a stone, kicking it right to the wall next to the incoming group of pokemon.

There were a few cries of alarm as pokemon scattered around the area.

Victor was surprised as he saw a wide variety of pokemon. Zigzagoons, Cubants, and Stuffuls run around in panic before hiding behind a few large rocks within the cave for cover. A few Noibats then flew into the cave but immediately fell to the ground with their eyes close while panting heavily.

"Noi..."

"Ace, hold up!" Victor said when he saw his pokemon juggling another rock threateningly with his feet.

He and Midori immediately rushed over to the few tired Noibat and checked their condition. Victor examined their wings and bodies, frowning to see how wet and bruised they were.

_"They must've fought through the storm..."_

He then glanced around at the rocks where he knew the other pokemon were hiding.

"Um... I'm sorry about my friend! He was just being cautious! We won't hurt you guys!"

"Kirl! Kirl!" Midori tried to add in measurement.

It didn't seem to work, as there wasn't any movement from behind their hiding spot, making Victor sigh.

But he didn't let that bring him down, forming a small smile. "You guys must be cold, right?"

He carried the few small Noibat's in his arms, taking them towards the circle of stones where his campfire had been earlier. Midori followed him while using Telepathy to carefully carry another Noibat, the two gently placing the pokemon down. 

Victor then crouched beside the remains of kindle and sticks that had already been used.

_"I've got to light this back up and quick... But I need more fuel."_

Victor got up and took a few steps back, then pointing his open palms forward.

_"All right. It's been a while... But it should be fine."_

The pokemon from their hiding spots, curiously gazing at the human who didn't immediately go to harm them.

"Crap, which one do I even use, though?" Victor wondered, keeping his position still for a few moments.

He then got a good idea. "Okay... Let's try this."

His palms started glowing a green hue, to which the pokemon watching were stunned to see.

"Magical Leaf."

From Victor's palm, several leaves were fired out to the center of the stone circle. Luckily, they weren't fired too hard, so they simply landed together without causing any significant impact.

"Alright! Next is..." Victor crouched down and placed both of his palms on the ground next to the group of leaves.

"Ingrain."

There was a small rumbling coming from the ground that lasted a few seconds. Then what followed was the ground cracking with small roots coming up and wrapping on top of the leaves to make sure they wouldn't blow away, the roots themselves also providing more fuel.

Victor grinned proudly while Midori curiously stared.

"Kirl? Kirl?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. Making these roots and leaves is pretty much the same as any other move I use." Victor answered him as he stood back up, dusting his hands off. 

"My energy, or... I guess 'stamina' is used to convert into energy, which is then converted into whatever move I want. So I could make leaves, sand, make stones erupt, that kinda stuff. Or that's what mom said anyway."

Midori put a hand to his chin with a pensive look. 

"And now, let's light this thing up." Victor crouched beside the fire and stuck his palm on top.

"Ember."

After a few seconds, smoke started coming from the pile of leaves and roots. Victor pulled his hand back and saw a small flame developing, to which he blew and kept it spreading to the rest of the tinder. It didn't take long before the fire blazed up to a decent size, to which Victor smiled to see.

"Alright. Ace, Midori, help get these guys by the fire to warm up while I get some towels."

His pokemon nodded as Victor ran back to his tent.

The two turned to see the pokemon that had been hiding now had their heads poking out.

Midori smiled and waved over to them, then motioning his small hands to the fire.

"Kirl!"

Several minutes went by before the many pokemon were gathered by the fire with towels wrapped around small groups of them. Ace watched them uncaringly from afar while Midori went from pokemon to pokemon to see if they were alright. As for Victor, he sat with them around the fire with a smile, glad to see them all relaxed.

"You guys just want to hide from the storm, right?" 

The pokemon nervously shivered around the fire but managed to nod. Some started at him in wonder, no one even asking about what they just saw as they thought it was pointless.

"Well, you guys can stay in here for tonight. Just stay clear of the tents. My friends are sleeping there, and they'd be pretty shocked if you suddenly crawled in."

"Zig!"

"Noi!"

"Eh?" Victor turned his head to see one of the Noibats attempting to fly back towards the cave entrance, only to be held by the legs by a Zigzagoon's mouth tightly.

"Noi! Noi!" The Noibat pushed with all his might to fly out of his friend's grip, but the Zigzagoon was determined to keep him back.

"Whoa, whoa! What's going on!?" Victor rushed forward, ignoring the small puddles he stepped in and grabbed the Noibat, attempting to pry the Zigzagoon's mouth off his leg. Midori joined him and teleported right next to the Zigzagoon, attempting to pull him off the Noibat.

"Nngh! Let go, little fella! You're gonna hurt your friend!" Victor frowned as he managed to unhinge Zigzagoon's jaw from the Sound Wave pokemon's leg.

Immediately after being free, the Noibat attempted to fly further out of the cave, only for Victor to wrap him in his arms.

"Hold on there! You can't just head out now!"

"Noi! No!" Noibat cried out as he struggled to get out of the human's arms, even starting to bite him.

"Argh! Oh, come on! It's too dangerous! Didn't you just come from out there!?!"

"Noi! Noi!"

Victor's eyes widened.

"More of your friends are out there?"

Noibat instantly stopped struggling and turned his head to Victor in shock, the other pokemon turning to him with similar looks of surprise.

"Noi... Noi?"

Victor gave him a reassuring smile.

"Yeah, I can understand you guys."

_"I guess those other pokemon weren't able to spread my name too far... They don't know about me."_ Victor thought in some disappointment.

"Noi! Noi!" Noibat flapped out of Victor's arms and landed on the ground, looking up at him and frantically speaking. "Noi! Noibat! Noi!"

Victor crouched to one knee as he listened.

Noibat waved his wings up and down.

"Noibat! Noi!"

Victor frowned.

"I can't just let you go out there by yourself."

"Noi!" Noibat frowned and opened his wings, making it clear he wasn't going to remain.

"I guess I'm coming with you then..."

Noibat paused, confusion visible on his face.

"Noi?"

"I can't really stop you from leaving, and it's not like I can stay in here after hearing that someone's in trouble." Victor stood up and stretched his arms with a smirk, keeping confident eyes on the pokemon.

"But you're not in the condition to fly. So you'll be sticking with me, got it?"

Noibat stared at Victor for a few seconds, still shocked that the boy so easily decided to go outside into such a dangerous storm for him.

But he formed a serious stare and nodded.

"Noi!"

"Great! Just give me a moment!" Victor ran back to his tent while the other pokemon gazed at him in wonder.

"Noi!/Zig!/Cu!/Stufful!" The gathered pokemon then put their attention to Midori and Ace, bombarding the two with questions about this unique trainer.

Ace simply rolled his eyes and jumped several feet away to avoid the pestering, while Midori was surrounded and nervously stammered as he struggled to answer.

Victor came out of his tent a few moments later with a new set of clothing. This consisted of some black pants and a red raincoat with a hood, although keeping his usual shoes as he didn't have a different pair to change into for the rain.

He didn't seem too bothered by his clothing's obvious flaws and simply grinned, ready to go.

"Alright! Let's go, little fella! Ace, Midori! You guys stay here and watch these other guys!"

Ace nodded, but Midori surprisingly pouted.

He stuck his arms up. 

"Kirl, Kirl!"

"I really don't think it's a good idea for you to come with me." Victor chuckled, amused by his pokemon's determination.

Midori crossed his arms and kept his pout, eyes engrossing on Victor with an intense stare.

Victor struggled to hold in a laugh.

_"E-Even though he's trying to look so serious... He looks so adorable..."_

"O-Okay! You can come!" Victor snickered, looking away and trying not to just hold him tightly right there.

Midori deadpanned, feeling like he wasn't taken seriously and feeling offended.

"Noi! Noi!" Noibat pleadingly rushed them, even starting to flap his wings to lift himself upward.

"Hold on there, you aren't in shape to fly!" Victor immediately snatched Noibat from the air and moved him into the collar of his shirt underneath his raincoat, placing him there with his head poking out as if in a pouch.

"There we go, you comfy?"

Noibat snuggled in the area, then nodding.

"Great, then..."

Victor and Midori turned to the flashing lights and roaring rain outside, thunder still echoing.

He put on a serious glare as he put on the hood of his red coat.

"Let's go."

* * *

**~{Macro Cosmos Agency}~**

Chairman Rose gently hummed as he worked on his desk, providing signatures on several papers involving future projects for Galar.

Oleana was on a separate desk, rapidly typing several things onto her laptop with her usual stoic expression. It was a wonder how she never had bags under her eyes with how much she worked, never losing any energy whatsoever and able to finish any task, whether asked to do it or not.

Rose signed another paper before glancing outside at the night sky of Wyndon, the most populated and popular city in all of Galar. The reason for the city being a highlight of Galar was obvious. Wyndon had the Wyndon Stadium, also known as the Champion Stadium from all the important battles involving the champion. It was a rather peaceful night in the city compared to the violent weather reported in the Wild Area. Stars brightly shined, there were hardly any clouds, and a gentle moonlight illuminated the city below.

Rose twirled with some of his hair before pushing his chair back and standing up, getting Oleana's attention.

"Something the matter?"

"Hm?" Rose turned to her with his usual smile. "No. I simply believe we should be done for the night. It is rather late, after all."

Oleana focused back on her screen, continuing to type.

"Get your sleep, Chairman. I'll remain here and finish up your work."

Rose just chuckled as he put his hands into his pockets.

"Come now, Oleana. You need to get your sleep, as well."

"I'll be fine. I'm used to staying up for long nights."

"Now that just makes me worried..." Rose sweatdropped.

*Knock! Knock!*

The front door opened to reveal a woman with an office uniform and a small smile.

"Chairman? It appears you have a visitor." She stated.

Oleana frowned and immediately stood up from her desk, an eye twitching.

"Who dares to see the Chairman at this time of night? Why haven't you sent them away?"

The woman flinched under Oleana's glare, starting to shake.

"B-But... H-He claims to be part of the I-International Police!"

"Oh?" Rose looked surprised as he tilted his head.

This response removed Oleana's irritation as well, the woman returning to her stoic expression but with an eyebrow raised. She turned to the Chairman, who was already walking to the door.

"This must be important." Rose stated, keeping a calm smile to him.

Oleana typed a few last things at lightning speeds before closing her laptop and shoving it in her bag, chasing after Rose out the door.

Rose and Oleana followed the woman through their building's halls, making it to the nearly empty lobby to see a man waiting on one of the red couches.

The man was clearly an investigator of the sort, the light brown trench coat being a dead giveaway. The rest of his outfit consisted of dark brown suit pants with a matching brown vest, a white dress shirt with a pink tie, and with the last piece being black penny loafers.

His brown eyes displayed his seriousness and conviction, his black eyebrows gave him a constant pensive expression, and the wrinkles by his mouth expressed years of experience. His dark brown hair didn't seem to be suffering by age yet, but it seemed that it was only a matter of time.

His Croagunk sat beside him with the specie's usual wide smile, while his Growlithe was lying on the floor beside him, staring rather seriously at Rose as he came out.

Upon seeing the Chairman, the man stood up from his seat and made it to him and Oleana.

"Chairman Rose?" He asked, reaching a hand out, to which Rose accepted and shook.

"You got him." Rose chuckled, ending the handshake and curiously eyeing the visitor.

The man then reached into his coat pocket and showed off his badge, revealing his identity.

"Detective Looker of the International Police. I apologize for coming so late, but I've come to ask a few questions."

Rose started to twirl with his hair, "Then perhaps we should take a seat?"

Looker nodded before he and Rose took seats across each other on the couches, with Oleana standing by the Chairman with her hands together.

"Please don't keep the Chairman for too long. It's rather late for him to be up." Oleana stated.

"Don't make it sound like I have a bedtime..." Rose awkwardly chuckled. "And please worry about your own sleep as well..."

"I promise it won't be too long. I simply wish to speak about Rainbow Rocket." Looker stated.

Rose's smile faltered upon hearing this.

"I see... Then I assume it's about their recent increase in activity?"

Looker nodded. "Indeed. Since your company is authorized as a police force for your region, I've come to ask simply for your cooperation with the International Police pertaining to Rainbow Rocket. Sharing information, helping enforce detainment of members, those sorts of matters."

"I don't see there to be a reason to discuss it. Macro Cosmos will work with the International Police in any way it can." Rose answered, his smile returning.

Looker blinked in surprise.

"Oh... That was fast. I didn't even give a rundown of the situation."

Rose just chuckled, "My main priority is helping Galar. The International Police's assistance will pave the way for this. But if I may ask, just how is the 'situation' so far?"

Looker sat straighter in his chair and entwined his fingers together over his lap, looking more serious.

"Well... As I've mentioned, we've received many more reports of Rainbow Rocket sighting in _this_ region. Their increase in activity is startling, to say the least, as there wasn't _any_ activity in Galar before. Your company ensured that it would be too dangerous for them to have a long-term order of operations here, but despite this... they're here. And their activity in other regions has gone down by half as the activity in Galar went up tremendously. They're risking themselves by being here, yet here they are, and remaining."

"Yes, I've noticed." Rose stated, scratching his beard, "It's as if they've moved their base of operations to Galar. That would be foolish and dangerous of them to do so, so they must have their reasons..."

"I assume you've done an investigation. Do you know what these reasons are?" Looker asked, staring with an intense stare.

"Oh, no idea." Rose waved with a chuckle.

Looker sweatdropped.

"You... You have no clue at all?"

"No. I've only concluded that they're searching for something that doesn't revolve around their normal activities of pilfering pokemon. And if they've concentrated their focus solely on Galar, then we know they're searching for a matter of great importance."

"I assume you don't have an idea of what they're looking for?" Looker suspected.

"I don't... We've interrogated the Rainbow Rocket members that we've arrested, but none have shared any valuable information. Their devotion to their leader is... frightening." Rose answered, looking down with a contemplated look.

Looker saw the conflict in Rose's eyes and piped up.

"I'll be staying in Galar to conduct my investigation. I know you must be a busy man, so rely on me to discover just what it is Rainbow Rocket is looking for and what they're planning." Looker declared.

Rose raised his head with a delighted smile.

"That would be greatly appreciated, Detective Looker. I pray you can figure out what they're planning before they end up executing it."

"Yes, I will do my best to bring these perpetrators to justice. Do you know of anyone I can speak with that could possibly give me a lead on finding Rainbow Rocket?"

Rose looked down in thought again.

"Hm... You could speak to Leon, as he apprehended a few groups of their men. But I doubt he knows anything, as he was only there to apprehend them after... Oh!"

Rose snapped his fingers with a grin.

"There is a boy you can speak to. He ran into two large groups of Rainbow Rocket members twice within the week their activity went up. Perhaps he can provide his knowledge as to what they were doing when he encountered them?"

Looker seemed satisfied as he pulled out a pen and notepad, opening it up.

"What's his name?"

Rose almost seemed thrilled to speak it.

"Victor."

* * *

**~{Bridge Field-12:05AM}~**

***CRACK!***

"ARE YOU SURE THEY'RE THIS WAY!?"

Victor screamed over the storm as he pushed against the oncoming winds while keeping an arm close to Noibat. Midori tried not to get swept off his feet as dozens and dozens of raindrops fell on him and his trainer, the two traveling through the wet grass as lightning struck in the distance.

"Noi!" Noibat yelled as Victor made it through the grassy fields empty of any pokemon beside a few Frillish, jellyfish-like pokemon, roaming around. 

"Even if they came through here, I'm sure they must've run somewhere to get cover!" Victor shouted as he kept running in the direction the rain was falling, causing sums of it to hit his face.

"Noi! Noi!!"

***BOOM!!!***

Rain furiously smashed down on Victor's coat as he leaped over a large puddle.

"How long ago did you guys go through here!?!" Victor screamed as lightning struck one of the few trees several yards away from them.

"NOI!" Noibat screamed as he hid his face in fear of the lightning strike.

_"Then they couldn't have gone too far!"_ Victor thought confidently, hearing Noibat despite the loud bursts in the atmosphere.

Their current location was by the edge of the Bridge Fields and onwards towards the Stony Wilderness of the Northern part of the Wild Area. Many more rivers were violently roaring and spreading in the area from being overflooded. The tall trees violently swayed back and forth, and several boulders were scattered throughout the large fields Victor was running through. In addition to these new features of the new oncoming landscape, large pieces of debris from rocks to tree branches would occasionally come through the water or fly by the air, to which Victor would have to dodge.

"Midori, are you doing alright!?!" Victor screamed as he used an arm to shield his eyes from the rain, looking down to his small pokemon soaked but still looking strong as he took big steps.

"Kirl!" Midori answered, clearly frustrated but not backing down.

"Okay!" Victor stopped walking and glanced in all directions, then cupping his mouth.

"IMPIDIMP! NOIBAT!! WHERE ARE YOU!?!" He screamed with all his might.

"Kirl!?!" Midori shouted to his trainer.

"I _can't_ use Sunny Day or Hail, Midori! I can't change the weather occurring when it's _this_ strong!!"

"KIRL!" Midori stomped.

"LANGUAGE!"

The group kept searching through the area but were unable to see too far due to the storm.

_"Ugh! If only I could just see them! Aren't there any pokemon moves that can do that!? Detect!? No, that only lets me detect pokemon attacking me... Future Sight? Wait, that move doesn't work like that..."_

Victor avoided stepping in some large puddles forming, his frustration growing.

_"Ugh, can't I just sense them or something!?!"_

Victor then stopped walking as his eye widened, suddenly recalling something.

_"Wait... Sense? Mom mentioned something about that with a pokemon..."_

His mind suddenly found himself back at his kitchen table. Several books surrounded him as he stared at the whiteboard his mother wrote on while instructing him.

_"Every pokemon is special in its own way, but there are many pokemon that go past this scale by being more noticeably unique than any others!"_ His mother declared, pointing at a few pokemon on the board.

_"How are they more unique?"_ A ten-year-old Victor asked, confused by what she meant by this.

His mother quickly started drawing a pokemon on the board. _"They have abilities that are unique for their species, they have moves special for them compared to movies other pokemon have, and they have characteristics that can only be found in their species!"_

She finished drawing and tapped the board to get his attention to a drawn bi-pedal, canine-like pokemon with blue and black fur.

_"Lucarios are such examples of the kind of pokemon we call 'unique.' They are one of the only species of pokemon that can detect 'Aura.' Medichams have also been known to sense Aura, but not manipulate it like Lucarios can."_

Victor blinked in confusion.

_"Aura?"_

His mom rapidly spun the marker in her hands with a grin.

_"Allow me to explain!" She rapidly drew an outline around Lucario with plants and a few pokemon around him. "'Aura' is a form of spiritual energy that flows through every living creature. It's also known as the 'essence' of life!"_

_"So... I have Aura, you have Aura, and the pokemon all have Aura?"_ Victor asked, tilting his head.

_"Indeed! Not just that, but in the past, there were humans that could actually sense AND use Aura too!"_ His mother stated.

Victor's eyes sparkled. _"Really!?!"_

But then he blinked in confusion.

_"Wait... What does Aura even let a person do?"_

His mother wrote down several bullet points.

_"According to the lore found in temples, Aura lets people read the minds and actions of another being, allows them to sense the Aura's of people and pokemon in their surroundings, and people can use Aura to create barriers or attacks!"_

_"Can I use Aura!?"_ Victor asked excitedly.

His mom just pointed the marker at him, _"Maybe! It's not like 'all' humans can use Aura! It's been known that only those with the biggest of fighting spirits and the keenest sense of justice can use Aura! This is our reasoning when we hypothesize why Lucarios can use Aura! It's because they have these traits!"_

_"But... can 'I' use Aura?"_ Victor asked, pointing to himself.

His mother giggled.

_"I'm sure you can, Victor. If those traits are the only things needed for a person to use Aura, then I know you can! In fact, why don't you try it now?"_

The young Victor jumped in his seat. _"Really!?!"_

_"Yes! But it isn't exactly easy from what I researched."_ His mom told him, putting down his marker and walking to her son. _"Do exactly as I say, understand?"_

_"Yes!"_ Victor saluted.

_"Good."_ His mom smiled, getting behind Victor and placing her hands on his shoulders.

_"Now... Close your eyes."_

Victor's eyes shot open to find himself back on the field, with Midori gazing around the area while Noibat shivered in the trainer's coat.

***BOOM!*** /"I GOT IT!!" Victor's shout synchronized with the explosion of sound.

Midori heard him over the thunder and glanced back at him while trying to shield his face from the rain.

"Kirl!?!"

"Give me a moment! I'm gonna try something!" Victor told him.

He then closed his eyes and put his palms together, ignoring the chilling rain hitting him and how wet his hands were. 

_"I can't believe I forgot about this..."_

Loud sounds rang in his ears, but he took a deep breath and drew out the noise from his mind.

_"Clear your mind, don't think of anything."_

His mother's voice echoed through him as the world turned dark around him, leaving him standing in a black abyss of silence.

_"Focus on not what you can touch, not what you can smell, or even what you can hear."_

In his mind, Victor started getting surrounded by blue.

_"Focus... On what you can feel in the world around you.."_

A blue aura then formed around Victor in the black abyss. This aura started spreading in the darkness as if a ripple in a still lake. The ripples spread in all directions, suddenly projecting outlines of pokemon in the distance.

Victor's eyes snapped open when he detected a Noibat and an Impidimp, both seemingly holding on to something.

"I found them!"

"Kirl!?!" Midori was shocked.

"This way!" Despite opening his eyes and regaining all of his senses again, Victor was so focused on the direction he ran that he could feel the two pokemon he was searching for not too far ahead.

Midori ran after him while the Noibat in Victor's coat seemed both relieved but worried as the trainer took him through the plains of the Stony Wilderness.

Soon, they came upon a large and roaring river formed by the flooding from the storm. Within this large river was a tree sticking out from the muddy water, with it, two pokemon holding on for dear life on the edge of one of its branches.

"There!"

Midori and Noibat both saw an Impidimp and another Noibat near the top of the tree. Its body was sinking into the water and was tipping over due to the powerful winds.

_"Is that a tree in the middle of a river!? No... I think the flood just rampaged over!"_

"NOI!" Noibat shouted, attempting to wiggle out of Victor's coat.

"No! You shouldn't try to fly out here! The wind is just gonna send _you_ flying!" Victor held him in, then pointing his finger. "Midori! Is your Telekinesis strong enough to hold that tree still!?!"

"Kirl!" Midori firmly planted his feet on the ground and put his hands on his head, a pink glow surrounding it as he focused his power on the large item ahead.

Victor's eyes widened as the tree was starting to fall before a pink glow surrounded it, stopping it despite the force trying to topple it down.

"Noi?/Imp!?" Both pokemon on holding onto the tree branches turned their heads and saw Victor with their friend.

"Thanks, Midori! Just hold on for a bit!"

After shouting this, another bolt of lightning struck a tree in the distance, making the Noibat and Impidimp shout in fear.

_"They're either gonna get struck by lightning or fall into the river if they stay there!"_

Victor turned to Midori and noticed his face scrunched up as he tried to keep hold of the tree.

"Kirl... Kirl!"

_"He can't hold it for too long! I have to be fast!"_

Victor took off his raincoat with Noibat and tightly wrapped it around it, then placing him on the ground beside Midori. He ignored the chills of his soaked body and the rain hitting him as he moved the Noibat next to a boulder.

"Stay here! I'll get them!"

"Noi!?" Noibat shouted, watching in shock as Victor turned around and ran towards the large, flooded area ahead.

Victor took a deep breath as he started glowing a pinkish purple.

"Teleport!"

He leaped right towards the large pool of rushing water before vanishing in thin air, only to appear a second later on the same branch just beside the other Noibat and Impidimp.

"Noi!?!"

"Imp!?!"

Both pokemon kept hold at the end of the branch as Victor kept balance by the trunk.

"I'm here to save you guys!" Victor shouted, giving them a reassuring smile as rain bombarded him.

***BOOM!***

"WHOA!" Victor nearly lost balance by the sudden sound but kept hold of the trunk with his feet on the branch. Simultaneously, the Impidimp and Noibat shrieked as they desperately tried to hold on to the same branch at the end.

_"That was sudden..."_

"Nnngh....!!! KIRL! KIRL!!" Midori shouted, struggling to use his psychic powers to keep the tree up in a forceful raging river.

"I know! Just hold on!" Victor shouted, then focusing his attention on the two frightened pokemon. "I'm heading to you guys!"

Victor laid on his stomach on the branch, hugging it and pulling himself over towards the pokemon. He was thankful the rain was going in the direction he was facing. Otherwise, it would've been much harder to see for his vision to fight against oncoming water.

He glanced down at the muddy water roaring underneath, carrying tons of debris that would be dangerous to fall into.

_"You got this, Victor. Shouldn't be too hard..."_

He saw the Noibat shivering as his small wings couldn't fully wrap around the branch.

***CRACK!***

Victor ignored the closer lightning strike and crawled closer to the two, then reached his hand for them.

_"Just... a little more!"_

The Impidimp reached one of his one small hands back to Victor, desperately reaching for the safety from the boy.

Only for a bolt of lightning to strike directly in the middle of the tree they were on.

The sudden explosion sent all three of them flying right off, with Victor feeling burns and some wood hitting his back from how close the bolt struck.

_"NGGH!!"_

Despite the pain, Victor's eyes snapped open to see the world moving in slow motion around him. He saw himself falling towards the river with the Noibat and Impidimp just below him, fear in their eyes.

Midori and the first Noibat both had their eyes widening in horror, their friends only a second away from disappearing into the murky water that was swallowing everything surging in it.

Victor knew he could teleport away. But he knew that if he did, then he'd never see the two falling pokemon again. He knew they would disappear into the river without a trace. He only had a second to get to them, and by then, he'd be in the river too.

But of course, he went for it.

"I GOT YOU!"

He didn't think. With one swift moment, Victor snatched both pokemon out of the air and spun as he fell.

"YAH!" With his momentum and all his strength, Victor flung both pokemon to the side.

"NOI!!/IMP!!" With the intense winds adding to the trainer's throw, the pokemon soared all the way across the large body of water and tumbled along the ground next to Midori.

But Victor didn't even get to see them fall, as he had already disappeared into the murky water.

He heard Midori's muffled scream through the water only for a second, the water clogging up his ears, and he was tossed and thrown under the force of nature.

He tried focusing on teleporting away, but a sudden impact of a broken trunk slammed into the back of his head.

Then all he saw... was darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Mimikyu standing on a snowy roof, wearing a Santa Claus outfit.)
> 
> Wow, that's... that's pretty messed up... isn't it? To leave this off on a cliffhanger like that, to which won't be updated for... I don't even know for how long. But it's not like I'll just be halting this fic entirely, but... yeah, there will be a number of chapters of my other fic first before I write one for this one.
> 
> But anyway, NO MY BOY! MY BEAUTIFUL BOY! He got THWACKED out of his mind!
> 
> *Ahem* But yes... So things look bleak but don't worry, there's no way the main character would die so early...
> 
> Right?
> 
> Heh, so we'll see what happens next time.
> 
> One more thing for tonight, I wish to say from the bottom of my heart... Thank you. Thank you to everyone giving me praise and support for my writing, thank you for... thanks for just making me feel important.
> 
> (Hops on a sleigh being pulled Stantlers and soars into the sky.)
> 
> Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Ho! Merry Christmas you FILTHY animals! And I hope we all get a better year than this one was! Ha!
> 
> (Flies off towards the clouds)
> 
> Onward, my noble steads! Take us to the brilliance of the night- Hey, wait a second.
> 
> (Sleigh and Stantlers stop in midair.)
> 
> Stantlers aren't flying types.
> 
> ...
> 
> Crap.
> 
> (Falls down below.)


End file.
